Nicholas House Care Home

Updated 6 October 2022

The inspection

This was a targeted inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the specific concern we had about sufficient numbers of suitable staff to support people to stay safe and meet their needs.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Nicholas House Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Nicholas House Care Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

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 manager in post who had applied for registration with the CQC.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the team leader, care workers, manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care records and risk assessments. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and training. A variety of records in relation to the management of the service, including staffing rota systems and policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 6 October 2022

About the service

Nicholas House Care Home is a residential care home providing care for 24 people aged 65 and over at the time of inspection, some of whom were living with dementia. The service can support up to 40 people. The care home accommodates people in one adapted building over two floors. One area of the home is used to support people living with dementia.

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

Medicines were managed safely. Improvements had been made to the recording of medication. Staff received training and competency checks in relation to medicines.

Care records contained information about people’s needs and risks. People’s preferences and choices were considered and reflected within records.

People received safe, person centred care. Good systems were in place to protect people from abuse. Staff demonstrated a good level of understanding in relation to safeguarding. Appropriate referrals to the local safeguarding team had been made. People, relatives and staff spoke positively about the manager and felt able to raise concerns and were confident that these would be addressed.

People and relatives said they felt the service was safe and people were well supported and received good quality care. Staff cared for people with compassion and kindness and treated them with dignity and respect, their independence was promoted.

Staff knew people well and were knowledgeable about when to refer to other health professionals for advice and support. 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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 31 March 2021).

At our last inspection we recommended the provider improved the standards of record keeping in relation to medicines. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendation and had made improvements.

Why we inspected

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.

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Nicholas House Care Home 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.