Kingsmead Care Home

Kingsmead is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 40 people across two separate floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One of the floors specialises in providing care to people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 30 people using the service.

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

People living at Kingsmead told us they received safe care from skilled and knowledgeable staff. Staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. The provider had safe recruitment and selection processes in place.

Risks to people's safety and well-being were managed through a risk management process. Peoples care plans provided staff with the information they needed to manage the identified risks.

Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff had the necessary skills to carry out their roles. Staff had regular training and opportunities for regular supervision and observations of their work performance.

The environment on the first floor could be improved to make it more dementia friendly and aid easy navigation for people living with dementia. The provider shared with us an action plan to improve the environment for the whole home which included creation of themed destination points, sensory area, rummage boxes incorporated with meaningful activities.

People, relatives and healthcare professionals told us staff were caring. Staff did all they could to promote people’s independence and we saw examples of this. People had access to other healthcare services, ensuring a holistic level of support was provided.

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. Staff had a particularly good understanding of when the principles of the Mental Capacity Act should be applied. People were supported to meet their nutritional needs and complimented the food at the home.

The home was well-led by a long-standing registered manager who was committed to improving people’s quality of life. They and the new provider had plans to continuously improve people's care. There was a clear management structure in place and a long-standing team of staff who worked well as a team. The provider had effective quality assurance systems in place that they used to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Staff worked well with external social and health care professionals.

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 the service under the previous provider was good, published on 13 April 2018.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

We found the following examples of good practice.

The team at the service appreciated the importance of people’s wellbeing during the lockdown. Staff aimed to maintain a sense of normality by organising socially distanced events, such as the most recent, a beach themed party.

The registered manager ensured communication such as newsletters were regularly sent out to people’s relatives. This was to share any updates around visiting or pictures of people enjoying activities. Staff ensured people were able to stay in touch with their families via video calls or phone calls.

The provider purchased a visiting ‘pod’ that was divided with see-through glass to allow for safe visits to take place in a Covid-19 secure environment. The pod was used on a pre-booking basis to ensure thorough disinfecting processes could take place between the visits.

Staff were trained in correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and handwashing. The provider’s head office team ensured there was a stock of appropriate PPE available and regular communication with the staff about the importance of following the infection control guidelines.

The service participated in the regular Covid-19 testing for both the people living at the service and staff. The registered manager confirmed the process of vaccinating people and staff for Covid-19 was ongoing.

The registered manager ensured regular infection control audits took place and areas identified for improvement promptly actioned. The housekeeping team worked to keep the service clean, with attention given to frequently touched surfaces that were disinfected regularly.

People benefitted from a team of regular staff who knew them well. Individual risk assessments had been carried out with staff members so their circumstances or health conditions were known, and support could be put in place. The registered manager reported good support from the local health professionals and the team at the provider’s head office.

There was a safe system of new admissions that were only allowed after a confirmed negative result of the Covid-19 test was received. The management team were aware of zoning and isolation arrangements and these would be followed if people were Covid-19 suspected or confirmed.

The provider’s policy outlined how to safely manage visitors. This included infection control procedures being explained to visitors on arrival and the need to complete a declaration form and record a temperature taken at the time. Where people received End of Life care, visits had been enabled with a risk assessment approach to protect people. If needed, people’s visitors were provided with the appropriate PPE.