Somerville

Updated 8 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 19 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 8 February 2022

This comprehensive inspection was carried out on 17 January 2019 and was unannounced.

Somerville is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Somerville is registered to provide support for up to seven people who require support with their mental health. At the time of our inspection seven people were living there.

The house is a large adapted domestic style dwelling situated in a busy area of Wallasey near to local amenities and transport. All of the bedrooms had en-suite bath or shower rooms.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During our previous inspection of the service in December 2017 We had found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in respect of Regulation 17. This was because systems and processes were ineffective at assessing monitoring and mitigating risks relating to the health, safety and welfare of people. We also found a breach of Regulation 18 of the Registration Regulations 2009.This was because the provider had not notified the commission without delay of an event that affected the health, safety and welfare of a person who used the service

The overall rating for the service was ‘requires improvement’. Following the inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key questions; ‘Is the service safe?’ ‘Is the service effective? ‘Is the service caring? ‘Is the service responsive?’ and ‘Is the service well-led?’ To at least a rating of good.

At this inspection we identified that improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations.

People living at Somerville told us that they liked living there. one person told us, “It’s very nice, staff are okay.” Another person told us, “It’s all right here, I like it.” The home had an ethos of promoting people’s independence and working alongside people to support them to increase their everyday living skills.

People were supported to occupy their time in ways they enjoyed and benefited from. At home people were supported and encouraged to be as independent as possible with everyday living skills such as cleaning and meal preparation. People attended a variety of clubs and classes in their local community, they also enjoyed regular holidays and days out. Whilst people were encouraged to go out and about independently staff were available to accompany people who needed their support.

People who were able to could go into their kitchen at any time and make a drink or meal with or without staff support. People told us they helped to plan meals and went food shopping if they chose to do so. An individual approach was taken to meals. This meant that some people ate different meals or prepared their own and budgets were adjusted accordingly. People who needed support at mealtimes or with their nutrition were provided with this.

Systems were in place for safeguarding people from the risk of abuse and reporting any concerns that arose. People felt safe living at Somerville and staff knew what action to take if they felt people were at risk of abuse. A system was in place for raising concerns or complaints and people felt confident to raise any concerns they had in the knowledge they would be listened to.

People’s medication was safely managed, stored and recorded. People told us they were happy for staff to look after their medication and they always received it on time. Staff provided people with the support they needed to manage their physical and mental health care needs.

People all had up to date care plans in place. These contained an assessment of the support needs people had and were used to plan the support they needed along with any future goals the person had. People told us that they knew all about their care plan and regularly discussed it with staff.

Regular checks of the building were carried out to ensure it was safe to use. Somerville is a large adapted domestic style dwelling situated in a busy area of Wallasey near to local amenities and transport. All the bedrooms had en-suite bath or shower rooms and people shared a kitchen, lounge and conservatory. Outside people had access to an enclosed back garden. Due to the internal layout of the building, lounge areas were not very private as people regularly passed through them to other areas of the house.

There was enough staff working at Somerville to provide the support people needed. People told us that they liked and trusted the staff team. Staff knew people well and had built positive relationships with people. This was evident in the trust people showed when talking about staff and how living at Somerville had a positive impact on their lives. Systems were in place and followed to recruit staff and check they were suitable to work with

Staff had received training to help them understand and meet the support needs of people living at Somerville. Staff told us that they felt supported and we saw that they had regular staff meetings and supervisions with senior staff.

The provider met the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to make choices and decisions for themselves. Where people lacked the capacity to make important decisions for themselves then the provider took steps to protect them. This included applying to the local authority for a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS) for the person.

Systems were in place for checking the quality of the service provided. This included carrying out regular audits of the service and meeting formally and informally with people living at the home and staff to obtain their views. An action plan was in place and used to record any areas for improvement and check they had been undertaken.