• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: St Joseph's Nursing Home

Manor House, Gay Bowers Road, Danbury, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 4JQ (01245) 223367

Provided and run by:
European Care (Danbury) Limited

All Inspections

23 September 2014

During an inspection in response to concerns

We conducted this inspection following information that we received from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) that identified concerns about the way the provider managed medicines.This inspection was carried out by a pharmacist inspector.

This is a summary of what we found-

Is the service safe?

We found the service was not safe because people were not protected against the risks associated with medicines. We found that there had been some improvements made to the way medicines were handled since the visit by the CCG and an action plan had been put into place but there were still actions that the provider needed to take to ensure that people received their medicines safely.

09/04/2014

During a routine inspection

St Joseph's Nursing Home provides nursing and personal care for up to 50 people. The home also provides end of life and palliative care. At the time of our inspection there were 46 people living in the home.

We found equipment used by staff when providing care and support was well maintained and safe. The environment in communal areas and individual bedrooms was also well maintained and clean. However, some areas throughout the home required improvement. These included one of the sluice rooms with areas of damaged tiling that could increase the risks of spreading infection and a bathroom that was not useable because the bath was boarded up. There was insufficient space to manoeuvre equipment safely to support people with mobilityneeds.

Further improvements were also needed to the two areas of multiple occupancy, which were referred to as wards. These areas lacked individuality and did not reflect people’s individual tastes. As the two wards contained beds separated by curtains there were also risks to people’s privacy and dignity when receiving care and support in areas that were open to people walking through. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

There were processes in place to provide staff with the training needed to give them the knowledge to care for people effectively. However, we found that some staff needed training updates for some core training.

People who lived in the home and their relatives told us they felt safe in the home and we saw there were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm.

We saw positive interactions between staff and people living in the home and saw that staff were kind and respectful to people when providing care and support.

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are a code of practice to supplement the main MCA 2005 code of practice. We looked at whether the service was applying DoLS appropriately and found they were meeting the requirements of the code.

Relatives told us that there was effective communication and staff kept them up to date with information about their family members.

Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and provided effective care. Care plans did not always contain enough information about people’s preferences and did not reflect the detailed knowledge demonstrated by staff.

People living in the home and their relatives told us that staff were kind, caring and cheerful. There were sufficient staff to support people with their care needs as well as social activities.

The acting manager had not been in the role of manager for long and we identified a number of areas for improvement which needed to be addressed.

14, 18 November 2013

During a routine inspection

People who lived at St Joseph's nursing home had a range of needs including palliative care and dementia.

We saw staff supporting people using the service respectfully and with care and understanding. Where people were unable to tell us directly about their experiences, we observed that they appeared calm and relaxed; they interacted positively with staff and actively sought staff out.

People who were able to speak with us were all positive about the care and support they received. One person told us: 'I love living here.' They also told us about how they enjoyed the activities and food provided. They showed us photographs of activities that they had taken part in; a bonnet making day and Easter parade, a sports day and visiting Morris dancers. Another person said: 'I can't speak more highly of the place; I join in and enjoy all the activities.'

We spoke with a relative who told us that they were very pleased with the care delivered at St Joseph's. They had previous experience with the home when another family member was admitted. The relative told us that the staff always kept them informed and confirmed that they were involved in the care planning process.

We found some shortfalls in records held relating to people's consent to care and treatment and that appropriate guidance was not followed for the correct completion of DNAR (Do not attempt resuscitation) records.

The new manager told us that they were surprised about the two shared 'ward' areas. They told us that they were working with the provider to look at options to ensure that people's needs, human rights and privacy and dignity were not being compromised by this environment.

We found that staff were not sufficiently supported and trained to ensure they had the the skills required to carry out their role but the new manager gave us assurances that this was being addressed.

29 January 2013

During a routine inspection

During this inspection on 29 January 2013 we spoke with people using the service and their relatives. We were told by one person 'I can't speak more highly about my care; my pressure area's are all healed since I came to live here'.

The people living at the home told us they were happy living there, many of the people living at St Joseph's have complex nursing and palliative care needs. Information about people's experiences was gathered mainly from relatives. We were told by one relative 'We couldn't ask for better care here' and another told us 'We are amazed at the improvement, we think it's wonderful' 'The staff are really good and I'm happy that Mum feels safe'.

We saw people being cared for with respect, dignity and compassion at all times during our visit.

People are provided care in individual rooms and within two ward areas, one with five beds and another with four beds. These wards are less isolating for people and benefit those who require more intense monitoring and care.

10 January 2012

During a routine inspection

During our visit on 10 January 2012 we spoke with seven people living at the home and seven relatives. Many of the people living at St Josephs have complex nursing needs and palliative care needs. Most of the information about people's experiences of St Josephs Nursing Home was gathered through discussion with relatives and through our observations.

One person told us 'They are interested in you and in helping you. They are good but especially the food.' Another person told us 'They are very kind.' A relative told us 'I can't fault it. I really felt they saw X as a human being, a real person.' They treat X with dignity and the communication is good.' A relative told us 'The care is excellent. We can't fault anything. They look after X well. The nursing care is very good here.' 'The food is good and there is always a choice. X always has a drink in X room and one of the nurses encourages X to drink more.' 'The staff are very good. They are well trained.'

One person told us 'X room is always clean and nicely personalised.'