Nightingale is a purpose built, two-storey care home situated in the Ecclesfield area of Sheffield. It can accommodate up to 40 people who require personal care for older people and those living with dementia. It is located near a shopping area and is close to a supermarket, a chemist shop and a bank. It is accessible by public transport. There was a manager at the service who was registered with CQC. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
Our last inspection at Nightingale took place on 5 November 2013. The home was found to be meeting the requirements of the regulations we inspected at that time.
This inspection took place on 30 March 2016 and was unannounced. This meant the people who lived at Nightingale and the staff who worked there did not know we were coming. On the day of our inspection there were 38 people living at the home.
We found that people were protected from abuse. Staff we spoke with had a clear understanding of safeguarding people and they were confident their managers would act appropriately to safeguard people from abuse.
People told us they liked living at Nightingale. One person told us, “I love it here.”
Thorough staff recruitment procedures were in place, which meant that people were cared for by suitably qualified staff who had been assessed as safe to work with vulnerable people.
Staff received training and some support to undertake the job they were employed to do. However, not all staffed received regular supervision or a yearly appraisal.
The service had systems in place for the safe storage and administration of medicines.
There were not enough staff to meet everyone’s needs in a timely manner. Staff we spoke with told us there weren’t enough staff available. We saw people having to wait for support to go to the toilet, and waiting when two carers were needed to support a person to move safely.
We found the service to be meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act. The registered manager had applied to the Local Authority for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to be authorised for several people living at Nightingale.
People were supported to maintain good health, have access to healthcare services and receive on going healthcare support.
Care records were personalised and contained relevant information to enable staff to provide person-centred care and support. People and/or their advocates had been involved in their care and support planning.
The care records we looked at included risk assessments, which identified any risks, associated with people’s care. Detailed plans were in place to support people to minimise these risks.
People were offered a limited selection of food and drinks. People told us they would like more choice, and more drinks to be served with their meals.
There was an activities coordinator employed at Nightingale and a programme of activities available to people.
The complaints process was clear, up to date and readily available to people living at Nightingale and their visitors. We saw a record was kept of all complaints that were received, the response given to the complainant and any action taken to rectify the complaint.
People living at Nightingale and staff working there, told us the registered manager was approachable and responsive to any concerns they had.
There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.
Staff, people who lived at the home and their relatives were regularly asked for their thoughts and opinions of the home, and were given opportunities to give suggestions to improve the home.
During our inspection we found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014, in regard to staffing, and person-centred care. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the end of the full version of this report.