St Catherine's Care Home

Updated 27 May 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

St Catherine’s is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. St Catherine is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 31 March 2022 and ended on 27 April 2022. We visited the service on the 31 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 17 March 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight staff including the area manager, the registered manager, nurses, care workers, kitchen and domestic staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and policies and procedures were reviewed. We made observations of care being provided to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk to us.

We 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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at safety information and certificates, staff rotas and staffing tools, surveys, audit and governance information. We also obtained feedback from local authority colleagues to understand their experience of working with the provider.

Updated 27 May 2022

About the service

St Catherine’s is a care home providing personal and nursing care, treatment for disease, disorder or injuries and diagnostic and screening procedures to up 60 people. The service provides support across three units to older people who need residential and nursing care and to people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 53 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives felt care was provided safely within the home. Medicines were managed safely, and competency checks were carried out. Analysis of accident and incidents had been carried out to identify any areas of improvement. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet the assessed needs of people. Staff had a good understanding of how to raise safeguarding concerns and had received safeguarding training.

People’s dietary requirements were being met and people’s preferences around meals were respected. People were supported to access medical treatment when needed. Staff received a robust induction and compliance with mandatory training courses was high. Some staff felt additional training to dementia training already carried out would be beneficial when they were supporting people with heightened anxieties. We have made a recommendation the provider provides further training in this area.

People and relatives felt care was provided in a warm, patient and friendly manner. Staff were praised for the care they provided to people and relatives valued staff support and communication throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Activities had been and continued to be developed within the home. Activities were carried out with individuals’ specific needs in mind. Funding was being sought to develop activities further, including the outside garden area which was not yet being utilised to it’s full potential. Relatives felt included in people’s care and support planning

The providers auditing systems were robust and the registered manager and area manager both had good oversight of the standard of care within the home. Audits were used to inform improvements and create action plans of how improvements would be made. There was a person-centred culture throughout the home and this was evidenced in peoples records and from feedback from people, relatives and staff. Care records were generally good; however, some care plans needed organising to better reflect the person-centred care at the home. We have made a recommendation the provider reviews and organises care plans.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 13 February 2020). The service was inspected more recently and was found to no longer be in breach of regulations. This inspection report was published on the 15 September 2020. At this inspection we found further improvements had been made.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St Catherine’s on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.