St Georges

Ratings

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

St George's is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care. This was the first assessment carried out under our single assessment framework. This assessment was unannounced and prompted partly by concerns we received into matters relating to infection prevention and control (IPC) standards. Assessment activity started on 18 March 2024 and ended 24 May 2024. We visited the service on 18 March and 21 May 2024. We looked at a total of 10 quality statements, all of which were in the safe and well led key question. For those key questions and quality statements not reviewed at this inspection we have combined the scores for these areas from the previous inspection. No breaches of regulation were identified, and the service's overall rating has improved to good from requires improvement. IPC and medicines management arrangements were robust. Safeguarding concerns were raised as required, and staff knew how to raise concerns. Staffing levels, their skill mix and experience meant people received safe care in line with their identified needs and risks. Staff were kind and caring and treated people with respect. The registered manager had the skills and experience needed to manage the service. There was an effective system of governance in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to support people in a joined-up way and provide good outcomes for people.

People's experience of this service

We spoke 5 people who used the service and 7 members of staff including the registered manager and a regional director. On 24 May 2024 an expert by experience made telephone calls to 5 relatives. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. The service could support up to a maximum of 36 people. At the time of the assessment the service was supporting 30 people. People and their relatives provided complimentary feedback regarding the management of the service, the kind and compassionate nature of staff and the overall good quality care they received. Positive relationships between people and staff were consistently noted during the assessment. There was a positive culture and the atmosphere was calm and relaxed. One person told us, "I am happy here, the care is good and the staff are really nice." A relative said, "The staff are very good, I have seen the with other residents so I know they don’t just put on a show when relatives visit, I’m in awe of them. [Name] needs help with all personal care and has to be hoisted, it’s all done well. "Just to show how vigilant the staff are, they had an eye test recently and the carer stopped it as they noticed they needed changing, many would have let the test finish before doing that." People and relatives all commented about the recent improvements made at the service. A relative said, "The home is now extremely good, by far better than it was previously. I’m kept informed of any changes. It’s been decorated and is much cleaner." Another relative said, "I always see the manager when I visit. I have a long trip to visit [family member] so can’t visit too often, but I am kept up to date by phone with any changes or issues; I never feel that I’m out of the loop. The staff seem happier since the manager started too." People and relatives were involved in the service and consulted on any changes. Their wishes, preferences and dignity were upheld.