We undertook a focused inspection of Stocks Hall Care Home in St. Helens. This inspection was unannounced and took place on the 15 June 2017.We carried out this inspection as a result of an incident involving an individual. We therefore focused our inspection around whether people’s care was safe and the service well-led.
We last inspected the service in April 2016. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the legal requirements which were assessed at the time and was rated as good.
Stocks Hall Care Home St Helens provides accommodation for up to 54 adults who need assistance with personal or nursing care. Both younger and older people were accommodated at the service whose needs included physical, psychological, communication and emotional support. In addition a number of people using the service were living with dementia. Accommodation comprises of four separate units. Jade and Opal are nursing units and are situated on the ground floor. Coral is a dementia unit situated on the first floor together with Amethyst which is a residential unit. The service is situated in a residential area of St Helens with a range of amenities close by. St Helen's town centre is within easy reach and there are local bus and train links to nearby cities. The service has its own mini bus with wheelchair access. All bedrooms have en-suite facilities. Lounge and dining areas are located on each of the four units.
There were 53 people living in the home at the time of our visit.
At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Stocks Hall. 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.
The registered manager was present during our inspection and was supported by two quality monitoring managers who held responsibility for quality monitoring, training and support. They were open and transparent throughout the inspection process, supportive towards the inspector and were seen to interact well with people using the service, their representatives and staff in a caring and helpful manner.
We saw that people living at Stocks Hall presented as clean, appropriately dressed and happy in their appearance. Staff demonstrated an understanding of the need to safeguard people’s dignity, individuality and human rights and the importance of providing person centred and compassionate care. We saw lots of positive interactions, banter and humour being exchanged between staff and people living in the home and people presented as being comfortable and relaxed.
Holistic assessments of need had been undertaken and care plans and risk assessments produced to ensure staff understood how to meet the needs of people living in Stocks Hall and keep them safe.
Recruitment practices were robust and relevant checks had been completed before staff commenced work which helped to safeguard the welfare of vulnerable people. Staff also received training, supervision and support to enable them to understand their role and how to deliver person centred care.
Policies and procedures relating to the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards had been developed. This provided guidance to staff on how to protect the rights of people who may lack capacity. Likewise, systems were in place to safeguard people from abuse and to ensure complaints were listened to and acted upon in a timely manner.
There was a quality monitoring system in place which involved seeking feedback from stakeholders and people who used the service and their relatives. This consisted of surveys and a range of audits.
Medicines were ordered, stored, administered and disposed of safely.
Maintenance records were clear and well managed and identified that checks were in place for all essential services, equipment and fire safety.