Archived: Shotley Park Residential Home

We found the following examples of good practice:

• Systems were in place to prevent people, staff and visitors from catching and spreading infections. The home supported people and staff as far as possible with social distancing.

• Staff had undertaken training in putting on and taking off personal protective equipment (PPE) and other relevant training.

• Staff were observed wearing appropriate PPE at all times. Suitable supplies of PPE were readily available.

• Staff supported people's social and emotional wellbeing. People and their relatives were supported to keep in contact using a range of technology and regular newsletters.

• The home was clean and additional cleaning of all areas and frequent touch surfaces was being carried out.

• National guidance was being followed which meant that due to current local restrictions, only essential health and compliance visits could take place at the time of the inspection. When visits recommenced, plans were in place to safely manage visits in accordance with national guidance. Visits would be staggered to allow for additional cleaning and were by appointment only.

• The home was following national guidance for anyone moving in. Staff worked with people and their relatives to ensure they were aware of self-isolation procedures. People were supported to understand the pandemic and the need for infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, such as staff wearing face masks.

• The registered manager spoke positively about the hard work and dedication of the staff, which had helped to minimise the impact of the pandemic on people's health and wellbeing.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Shotley Park Residential Home provides care and accommodation for up to 44 people who require personal care in one adapted building, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection the service supported 39 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they loved living in the home and were happy. Comments included, “This is a family home and it is happy and I am blessed to be here” and “It is like a 5 star hotel with care home benefits.”

Medicines were managed in a safe way, although some medicines were administered during mealtimes, including eye drops. The registered manager was going to address this. People were kept safe. Safeguarding referrals were made in a timely manner and staff received regular training how to protect people from abuse. Risks to people’s health and welfare as well as the environment were well managed. The provider learned from previous accidents and incidents to reduce future risks. Staff were recruited in a safe way and there were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs.

Assessments of people’s needs were completed prior to them moving into the service. Staff were suitably trained and received regular supervisions as well as annual appraisals. Staff supported people to access a range of health care professionals and with their nutritional needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were very complimentary about the staff and the care they received. Staff promoted and maintained people’s independence by encouraging them to care for themselves, where possible. Advocacy services information was available and accessible to people.

Care plans were adequately detailed and person-centred. People’s communication needs were included within care records and staff knew how to communicate with them effectively. People knew how to complain. Complaints received were fully investigated and subsequent action was taken.

People and relatives felt the service was well-led and the registered manager was open and approachable. There was a clear management structure in place, although the registered manager was very busy and completed a lot of daily administrative tasks. Staff were involved in the ongoing development and improvement of the service. An effective quality assurance process was in place.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 7 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Shotley Park is a residential care home for up to 43 people who have a range of needs including requiring support for dementia type conditions. The service is based over two floors in a Grade 2 listed building set in its own grounds. At the time of our inspection there were 35 people using the service.

This inspection took place on 26 and 27 January 2017 and was unannounced. At the last inspection, the service was rated overall good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

The relatives we spoke with were overwhelming complimentary about the care provided by the staff. At our last inspection we rating the domain of caring as “Outstanding”. During this inspection we found outstanding care had been sustained and people were supported by staff who delivered care to the same high levels of consistency throughout the home. Relatives reported people were cared for to exceptionally high standards.

We found staff had developed extremely positive relationships with people. They were attentive to people’s needs and promoted their dignity and independence. They showed they were very patient with people and had a high level of understanding of their needs achieved through engaging both the person and their relatives in conversations about their care preferences. This ensured people’s care needs were met with efficiency and kindness.

We found the home had a warm and friendly atmosphere into which relatives told us they felt highly welcomed and involved in their family members’ care.

Copies of resident meetings and newsletters were available in the home so people were kept up to date about where they lived.

We looked at the administration of people’s medicines and found staff had been trained and assessed as competent to give people their medicines. We found the records and stocks of medicines to be accurate.

The service had in place risks assessments for people. Where a risk had been identified actions had been put in place to mitigate the risks. Accidents were reviewed by the registered manager to check to see if they could be prevented in the future.

Shotley Park is a residential care home for up to 43 people who have a range of needs including requiring support for dementia type conditions. The service is based over two floors in a Grade 2 listed building set in its own grounds. At the time of our inspection there were 35 people using the service.

This inspection took place on 26 and 27 January 2017 and was unannounced. At the last inspection, the service was rated overall good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

Copies of resident meetings and newsletters were available in the home so people were kept up to date about where they lived.

We looked at the administration of people’s medicines and found staff had been trained and assessed as competent to give people their medicines. We found the records and stocks of medicines to be accurate.

The service had in place risks assessments for people. Where a risk had been identified actions had been put in place to mitigate the risks. Accidents were reviewed by the registered manager to check to see if they could be prevented in the future.

People were engaged in a range of activities which reflected their preferences. We saw during our inspection people were involved in doing chair exercises. Relatives described to us the activities which had taken place over Christmas 2016 and told us they had watched their family member enjoying themselves.

There was a fire risk assessment in place for the building and fire checks were carried out to ensure people were safe. Other checks to promote people’s safety in the home included water checks and window restrictor checks.

We checked staff rotas and spoke to staff to see if there were enough staff on duty during the day. Staff felt there were enough people on duty. We saw the registered manager had recently recruited an extra person to work nights due to the size and layout of the home.

The registered manager had introduced new care documents which promoted people’s individuality. The documents were regularly reviewed so staff were given the most up to date guidance on how to care for people.

People told us they enjoyed the food in the home. We saw people were given a choice and special diets were catered for. The staff monitored people’s weights and dieticians were contacted if a person was found to be losing weight. The weight of most people in the home had remained stable.

The home had a hospital admissions form in place which meant if a person needed to be transferred to hospital up to date information was provided by the home and medical staff were made aware of the person’s conditions.

We found there were good partnership arrangements in place including with other professionals and relatives to drive and support a person centred culture.

Further information is in the detailed findings below

We were able to observe the experiences of people who use the service. We saw that staff treated people with dignity and respect. One person told us 'The staff look after you well and respect my dignity; my clothes are kept nice and clean.' Another told us that 'I like to go out unaccompanied, do some of the things I used to do before moving here, the staff respect my independence'. We saw that people had their own rooms and people told us that staff knocked before entering. One person told us 'My room is my private space' and we were told that staff respected people's privacy. We saw that the people using the service related well with the staff. We saw that the staff communicated well and appropriately with people in a way that could be easily understood. We saw that staff were attentive and interacted well with people. People told us that they liked to make choices. People told us that there had been activities in the home to take part in if they wanted to. Some people preferred to go out. One person told us 'I am going to my friendship club today, I usually go every week'. On the day of the inspection the hairdresser and an aromatherapist were there as people had asked for these services. We saw people had choice at breakfast and lunch and snacks were offered regularly during the day of our visit.

In order to determine how care and treatment was provided we spoke with staff, observed their practices and looked at the records of four people who used the service.

The manager had carried out a survey of people who used the service, the staff, their carers and relatives. In the survey everyone said that the care at the home was very good, the staff were supportive and the people used the service felt safe.

We found that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. Where people did not have capacity to consent, the provider acted in accordance with legal requirements.

We found that people who used the service had their care and welfare needs met.

We found that staff were supported in their roles and had received training in guidance in supporting people and found that people were safeguarded against abuse.

We found that staff had been well supported to deliver care and treatment safely. We were able to speak with eight of the eleven staff on duty at the home. All of the staff told us they were well supported by their manager and supervisors.

We found that the provider had auditing systems in place which assessed and monitored the quality of the service provided.