Archived: Park Hills Nursing Home

Updated 26 August 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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Park Hills nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Park Hills Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This service also offers support via a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 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

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be able to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 29 June 2022 and ended on 2 August 2022. We visited the location’s service on 29 June 2022 and the 7 July 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since our last inspection. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people and five relatives about their experiences of the care and support provided. We also spoke with eight staff members, including the registered manager, deputy managers, nurses, senior health care assistants and health care assistants.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care plans, daily records, medicine administration records and documentation for several other people. We also looked at other records relating to the management of the home and home care service and records relating to risk management. We looked at safety information and certificates, staff rotas, accident and incident monitoring, menus and meal monitoring, meeting minutes, surveys, audit and governance information. We reviewed four staff files which included records relating to recruitment and we also looked at training records.

Updated 26 August 2022

About the service

Park Hills Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 17 people. The service provides support to people with nursing needs and specialises in end of life care. At the time of our inspection, there were 17 people using the service. The provider also runs a domiciliary care agency under this location’s registration and they provide personal care to 8 people living in their own homes.

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

People and their relatives felt care was provided safely by staff both within the home and by the homecare service. Medicines were managed safely and staff’s competencies were checked by the management team regularly. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs. Health and safety checks were completed. The provider had systems in place to manage risks associated with the provision of people’s care. However, some risk assessments while providing basic guidance for staff on how to mitigate risk, lacked specific details. We discussed this with the provider, who had highlighted this before our inspection and purchased a new electronic recording system. Further detail would be added as risk assessments were transferred to the new system. The system was due to go live within four weeks of this inspection.

Care plans were completed for all people receiving care across both services. Information in people’s care plans was clear and most contained personalised guidance for staff to provide care in line with people’s likes, dislikes and preferences. People and relatives praised staff for the care and support they provided. People were supported to stay in contact with families and friends; the service facilitated visits for times which were convenient for visitors. The provider recorded complaints and responded to them in a timely manner; very few complaints had been received and people and their relatives feedback corroborated this.

The management team carried out regular audits and quality assurance checks. The provider worked proactively with external bodies such as the local authority, hospital discharge team and other health professionals to tailor people’s care to their needs. The provider and registered manager were open and transparent about the difficulties they’d faced in relation to recruitment and had implemented measures to ensure this did not impact people’s care. The provider responded well to feedback and provided evidence of addressing and how they would continue to address our findings from this inspection.

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.

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 10 August 2018).

At our last inspection we recommended the provider should take steps to develop ways of providing meaningful stimulation and activities to people living in the home. At this inspection, we found improvement had been made in this area; however, it was not always evidenced in people’s records. We discussed this with the provider who responded immediately by adjusting records to prompt staff to record all activities. The provider also explained they would link in with other end of life services in the community to see if any further activities could be sourced for people.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about end of life care, management of people’s pain relief and the management teams support and communication for relatives. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.

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 the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Park Hills Nursing Home 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.