Background to this inspection
Updated
10 November 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on the 25 July 2018 and was unannounced.
The inspection was carried out by one inspector, Specialist nurse advisor and an Expert by Experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Before the inspection, we reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) that we had. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed other information that we held about the service such as statutory notifications. Providers are required to notify the Care Quality Commission about events and incidents that occur.
During our inspection we spoke with ten people living at the service, two visiting relatives, three care staff, one nurse, the registered manager and the regional manager. Some people were not able to verbally communicate their views of the service to us and therefore, we observed how care and support was provided to some of these people.
We spent time observing care in the communal areas and used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We checked the recruitment and training records for four members of staff. We also looked at eight people’s care records, including records in relation to the management of people’s medicines and the quality and safety monitoring of the service across the care home and the supported living service.
Updated
10 November 2018
This inspection took place on the 25 July 2018 and was unannounced.
Seven Rivers is registered as a care home with nursing providing accommodation for up to 29 people who require nursing care. At the time of our inspection there was 29 people using the service.
There was a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
At our last inspection in June 2017 the overall rating of this service was requires improvement. This is because we found the environment within the care home remained in need of refurbishment and redecoration. In addition, actions were required to mitigate the risks of potential harm to people from the risk of falls from windows, and call bell response times. We also found shortfalls in the support and training provided to overseas volunteers to meet people’s needs and ensure they had the skills and knowledge to protect people from the risk of harm.
At this inspection we found improvements had been made, notably a new service lift had been installed, people’s room and communal areas had been redecorated. In addition, on-going support and training was now being provided to overseas volunteers this included periodic progress reviews.
People and relatives valued the relationship they had with the management team and told us they found them approachable and supportive. Staff were kind, caring and there were systems in place to ensure that people’s human rights were respected and their rights to dignity and independence promoted.
People and or their representatives, where appropriate, were involved in making decisions about their care and support. People’s care plans had been tailored to the individual and contained information about how they communicated, plans to achieve people’s goals and aspirations and their ability to make decisions.
The service was flexible and responded positively to people’s requests about their care and how it should be provided. People were supported to access social activities according to their personal choice, wishes as to how they lived their daily lives and preferences as to how their care was delivered.
The culture of the service was open, inclusive, empowering and enabled people to live as full a life as possible. The management team provided effective leadership to the service and enabled people to air their views through care reviews, meetings and their involvement in the recruitment of new staff.