The Moreton Centre

Updated 11 October 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

The Moreton Centre 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. The Moreton Centre 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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 reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at notifications and any safeguarding alerts we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We looked around the service and met with the people who lived there. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) during the morning of the first day of our inspection. SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with 12 people in detail to understand their views and experiences of the service and we observed how staff supported people. We spoke with the manager, deputy manager and providers. We also spoke with nine members of staff, including senior care staff, chef, maintenance person and housekeepers. We were able to speak with three visitors during the inspection.

We reviewed the care records of six people and a range of other documents. For example, medicine records, four staff recruitment files; staff training records and records relating to the management of the service.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found during the inspection process. This included staff rotas, training and supervision data and immediate actions taken by the management team following the site visit. We also spoke with three professionals who visit the service and two family members.

Updated 11 October 2022

About the service

The Moreton Centre provides nursing and personal care for up to 64 people who live with dementia and people who live with a mental health diagnosis. The home is purpose-built over two floors and divided in to four separate units. There were 53 people living at the home at the time of the inspection with a range of complex mental health and health care needs. This included people who have had a stroke, acquired brain injury, who live with diabetes and for those approaching end of life. Ash unit provided accommodation for both male and female people living with dementia. Maple unit accommodated younger people with a mental health diagnosis and behaviours that may be challenging. A further two units, Willow and Oak provided single sex accommodation for those with a mental health diagnosis and displaying different emotions. People required varying levels of help and support in relation to their mobility and personal care needs.

Peoples experience of using this service and what we found

The providers’ governance systems had improved and were being used consistently to improve the service. There had been improvements made, but there were still areas that needed to be further improved to ensure people's continued safety and well-being. For example, not all pressure mattresses were set correctly and the checking system for settings was not fully effective.

People received safe care and support by staff trained to recognise signs of abuse or risk and understood what to do to safely support people. One person said, “I am safe here.” Care plans and risk assessments meant peoples’ safety and well-being were protected. We observed medicines being given safely to people by appropriately trained staff, who had been assessed as competent. The home was well-maintained and comfortable. There were enough staff to meet people's needs with the use of agency staff. Safe recruitment practices had been followed before staff started working at the service.

People’s care was designed and planned to meet their individual needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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 was requires improvement (14 May 2019) and there were two breaches of Regulation. 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 had met the two breaches of regulation.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This enabled us to review the previous ratings. We also used this opportunity to look at the breaches of Regulation 12 and 17. As a result, we undertook a focussed inspection to review the safe and well-led questions.

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.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.