Seven Hills Nursing Home is a 28 bedded home offering nursing and residential care for older adults, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people living there. The home is situated in South Yorkshire and within easy reach of Sheffield city centre and public transport links.At the time of our inspection the home had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.
Our last inspection at Seven Hills Nursing Home took place on 19 October 2015. The home was rated Good overall. We identified a breach of Regulation 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014, Need for consent. The registered provider sent an action plan detailing how they were going to make improvements. At this inspection we checked the improvements the registered provider had made. We found sufficient improvements had been made to meet the requirements of this regulation.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Seven Hills Nursing Home on our website at ‘www.cqc.org.uk’.
This inspection took place on 14 August 2017 and was unannounced. This meant the people who lived at Seven Hills Nursing Home and the staff who worked there did not know we were coming.
We were not able to talk with some people living at the home due to their complex conditions, However, we observed staff interacting with them. Visiting relatives spoke positively of their experiences at Seven Hills Nursing Home. They told us they thought that individuals living there were happy, felt safe and were respected.
We found systems were in place to make sure people received their medicines safely so their health needs were looked after. There were protocols in place for medicines prescribed on an ‘as and when’ required basis (PRN). This meant staff knew when PRN medicine was required and for what.
Staff recruitment procedures ensured people’s safety was promoted. The provider ensured pre-employment checks were carried out prior to new staff commencing employment.
Sufficient numbers of staff were provided to meet people’s needs. We saw that staff responded in a timely way when people required assistance.
Staff were provided with relevant training which gave then the skills they needed to undertake their role. We found that not all staff were receiving supervision and appraisal at the frequency stated in the service’s own procedures.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The registered provider’s policies and systems supported this practice. The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. However, the system for monitoring standard authorisations for deprivation of liberty or pending applications was not always effective.
People’s individual needs were not currently met by the design, adaptation and decoration of the service. There were no tactile pictures for people to look at and touch and the walls were bare in many areas.
People had access to a range of health care professionals to help maintain their health. A varied diet was provided, which took into account individual dietary needs and preferences. This meant people’s health was promoted and choices could be respected.
Staff knew people well and positive, caring relationships had been developed. People were encouraged to express their views and they were involved in decisions about their care. People’s privacy and dignity was respected and promoted. Staff understood how to support people in a sensitive way.
We looked at care records and found they contained limited information and did not always reflected the care and support being given.
A programme of activities was in place. However, during inspection we saw that the activities program was not being utilised and people were not provided with social stimulation, which was based on their preferences. The registered provider told us that the activities coordinator had recently left the service. A new activity coordinator had been appointed and was awaiting satisfactory recruitment checks before starting work at the service..
People said they could speak with staff if they had any worries or concerns and they would be listened to.
There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Regular checks and audits were undertaken to make sure full and safe procedures were adhered to. The efficiency of the quality assurance monitoring systems would be further improved by including a defined timescale and responsible individual for action plans.
We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the registered provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.