Somerville House

Updated 10 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 1 inspector. An Expert by Experience also made phone calls to relatives the following day. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Service and service type

Somerville House 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. Somerville House is a care home without 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 reviewed information we received about the service since the last 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who use the service and 2 relatives about their experience of care provided. We spoke with the nominated individual, the registered manager, the care manager and 2 members of staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. These included 2 people’s care records and a range of medicines records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service. We also received information from a health care professional who visited the service.

Updated 10 February 2023

About the service

Somerville House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 18 people. The service provides support to people with dementia, mental health conditions and older people. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.

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

People were supported to remain safe. Staff knew how to report allegations and concerns of abuse and understood their roles clearly and what was expected of them. Risk assessments were person centred and provided enough information to guide staff in their practice.

The provider had made improvements since our last inspection to fixtures, fittings and the cleanliness of the service. Effective systems were in place for maintaining good standards of cleanliness in the service. People told us the home was lovely, it was clean, tidy and they could put pictures on walls.

People received their medicines as prescribed. Medicines were stored correctly and disposed of safely. Staff understood their responsibility to raise concerns and report accidents and incidents.

Recruitment systems were robust, and people were actively involved in the recruitment of staff and choosing the staff who will work with them.

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.

The service was well led with a positive culture that was person-centred and provided high quality compassionate care.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 21 June 2019) and there were 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 was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 21 June 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and well-led.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions, Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Somerville House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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