Kettlewell House Nursing Home

Updated 2 February 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors, a nurse specialist and an Expert by Experience.

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Kettlewell House Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Kettlewell House Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed the information we held about the service in relation to notifications of accidents, incidents and safeguarding concerns. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 8 people and 1 relative to obtain their views on the service. We also spoke with 9 staff which included the registered manager, deputy manager, clinical staff, care staff and activity staff.

We looked at documentation in relation to the service. This included reviewing 10 people’s care plans in varying detail, numerous medicines records, 5 staff recruitment files, audits, minutes of meetings, complaints, training and accident and incident information.

Following our inspection, we received feedback from 7 relatives.

Updated 2 February 2023

About the service

Kettlewell House Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 37 people, many of whom are living with a health condition, mental health condition or dementia. People live in the main nursing home, or more independently in one of the suites or flats that are on the same site. Everyone receives the regulated activity of personal care.

Some people who did not live in the service also attended the day centre at the service and whilst there in the home, they received the regulated activity of personal care. At the time of our inspection, 33 people were living at the service.

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

People spoke highly of the registered manager, praising their knowledge and management oversight of the service. However, we found the provider operator had failed to support them by making some necessary changes to some carpeted areas in the service.

People were happy living at Kettlewell House. They told us they felt safe and they were cared for by a sufficient number of staff who were kind, caring and showed them respect and dignity.

People’s individual risks had been identified and staff kept people safe through good care management and a knowledge of how to recognise and report potential signs of abuse.

People’s medicines were managed well and where people required the input of external health care professionals this was sought promptly to help ensure people maintained a good level of health.

Staff were well trained and felt supported by management. They demonstrated a good understanding of people’s needs and provided person-centred care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People told us they enjoyed the food they were provided with and liked the opportunity to participate in the activities that were arranged for them.

Relatives were very happy with the care provided to their family member and they were given the opportunity to air their views or give feedback through relatives meetings. The management team had good governance arrangements in place to continually assess the quality and safety of the service. They worked well with external agencies to respond to people’s needs.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service under the previous provider operator was Requires Improvement (report published 27 August 2019).

At that inspection, we found breaches of regulation in safe care and treatment, person-centred care, premises and equipment and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

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

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider notify CQC of all incidents of potential abuse, review staff deployment, review the Mental Capacity Act 2005 code of conduct in relation to people who lacked capacity, provide additional specific training to staff and improve the activities on offer to people. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on those recommendations and had made improvements.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. It was also because since that inspection the provider operator had changed.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.