9 July 2019
During a routine inspection
St Valery is an adapted family run residential care home established in 1992. It provides accommodation and personal care for up to 16 older people aged 65 and over with dementia type conditions. The premises have three shared rooms, but the provider and registered manager have chosen to use two of these for single occupancy only. The number of people accommodated at any one time is therefore 14. At the time of the inspection the service was full. A small annexe (York House) located in the garden area of the service is registered separately with the Care Quality Commission for three people with lower dependency needs. People from the annexe are supported by staff from St Valery and make full use of the facilities at St Valery for their day to day support.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Since the last inspection the interim manager has become the registered manager. The registered manager and staff have continued to drive improvements in the service, maintaining the outstanding level of care people received and promoting and achieving exceptionally positive outcomes for people.
People and relatives spoke positively about the service. People told us that they felt safe and found the service homelike. “It’s like living at home really.” The provider had ensured that people lived in a safe well-maintained environment, risks were assessed and managed. Any improvements made were with a view of enhancing peoples experience. There were enough suitable staff available to meet people needs.
The registered manager fostered a culture of placing people at the centre of everything they do and aspire to do at St Valery. They and staff were passionate about the people they supported living their life to the fullest in the least restrictive way.
Staff were highly trained and motivated. The registered provider and manager fostered a nurturing and empowering environment so that staff could develop and feel confident in their knowledge and skills. Staff enjoyed working in the service and felt valued and supported. Staff retention was therefore very good and provided people with excellent continuity of high-quality care. Peoples dietary and health needs were managed well, and health professionals told us the service referred to them appropriately. 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 their relatives universally told us that staff were kind and caring. Their support was compassionate and there was thought given to way in which they supported to uphold people’s dignity. There was a busy but relaxed atmosphere within the service with lots of chatter, laughter and smiles between people and the staff supporting them. The culture was open and friendly, and visitors were made welcome. There was a sense that people, their relatives and staff knew each other well. A relative told us they thought people in the service were “treated as equals by staff and given their self-respect.” This approach extended to relatives with one who visited many times in the week saying they were treated by staff “like a pal.”
Staff were very knowledgeable about people's needs and supported people to remain as independent as possible. The service had earned an excellent reputation with local health and social care professionals who described the service as “one of the best” and “I have always found this service as one that others should take notes from,” The registered manager was a strong advocate for people needing the service who were diagnosed with dementia type illnesses. They and their staff continued to find new ways in which to support people in little but important ways that made their day to day experiences and outcomes consistently good.
The registered manager was a visible presence in the service and knew all the people, their histories and their status well. Both relatives and professionals we spoke with were complimentary of the service and the registered managers leadership and caring values which she promoted across all staff. People received high-quality person-centred care that met their individual needs.
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. (Report published 22 December 2016)
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.