The Fairways

Updated 17 August 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector, an assistant inspector and a medicines inspector.

Service and service type

The Fairways 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 16 July 2019 and ended on 27 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with nine people who used the service and three relatives and visitors about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 17 members of staff including the quality business manager, the registered manager, deputy manager, senior care staff, care workers and domestic and kitchen staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection –

We sought feedback from health and social care professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 17 August 2019

About the service

The Fairways is a residential care home providing personal care to 60 people. At the time of this inspection 51 people were being supported at the service and one person was in hospital. The service is managed by the Methodist Homes group which is a charitable organisation. En-suite rooms or self-contained apartments were available in one building over two floors. The ground floor supported people who were living with Dementia.

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

We found the impact on people from the current staffing levels was minimal although staff consistently raised with us that they felt there was not enough staff.

There was a divide in the staff culture within the home. The majority of care staff that we spoke with disclosed a poor working relationship between them and the senior care staff.

Although the registered manager had responded to our findings these had not all been identified during assessments of service delivery.

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 and relatives praised the care and told us staff were kind and caring towards them. The staff were respectful and encouraging of people’s cultures and beliefs. People’s support plans were personalised and contained detailed information on how to meet their specific needs. They referred to people in respectful and dignified ways.

We saw documentation around end of life wishes recorded and the compassion shown by the staff at this time was praised.

The service had built good links with external professionals and the surrounding community. An enhanced activity role of community co-ordinator was in place and planned events that bought the community into the home.

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 4 January 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.