St. George's Nursing Home and Home Care

Updated 15 December 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

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

One inspector completed the inspection of St Georges Nursing Home and Home Care.

Service and service type

St Georges Nursing Home and Home Care is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We requested feedback from health and social care professionals. We reviewed information gathered for a recent direct monitoring approach call. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager, clinical manager, care workers, house keepers and registered nurses. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider, at St George’s, the NI is also the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed additional information we asked the provider to supply.

Updated 15 December 2021

About the service

St Georges Nursing Home and Home Care is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 41 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 56 people in a part purpose built and partly converted premises.

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

People were safe at St George’s Nursing Home and significant improvements had been made to safety measures since we previously inspected the service. Staff had training in areas such as health and safety and safeguarding and knew what actions to take should there be an accident or suspicion of abuse.

Improvements had been made to the administration of medicines and an electronic system provided the clinical manager with daily reports to ensure clear oversight. Medicines were administered in a person-centred way by registered nurses and there were clear protocols in place for as and when required medicines.

The premises were extremely clean and throughout our inspection we saw housekeeping staff methodically cleaning the service. Staff wore appropriate PPE and measures had been taken to ensure they could socially distance during breaks.

People’s needs were assessed and care plans written and continually reviewed for the duration of their time at St George’s. Both needs and preferences were assessed and recorded to ensure people had positive experiences of care delivery.

Staff received training and updates to ensure they were current with good practice. Training had slipped slightly due to the pandemic but alternative courses including online training had been provided instead of face-to-face training.

Meals were provided according to people’s needs and preferences and relevant referrals were made should additional support be needed with nutrition.

The premises were bright and welcoming and designed to meet people’s needs. Themed wall art aided people to navigate the building.

The provider was compliant with their responsibilities under the MCA 2005. 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.

There was a supportive management team who had specific skills to provide clinical direction and leadership. An open door approach provided staff with opportunities to speak directly to management as they could when they worked alongside them on the floor.

Comprehensive audits and an EMAR system provided oversight of the service and positive links to health and social care professionals ensured provision of relevant and quality care.

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 requires improvement (published 6 December 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 was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 3 October 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.

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, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St Georges Nursing Home and Home Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.