St Michael's Nursing Home

Updated 6 April 2023

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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and an expert by experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

St Michael’s Nursing 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. St Michael’s Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before 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 13 people and 2 relatives about the care they received. We spoke with 9 staff members which included the nominated individual, registered manager, deputy manager, accounts manager, clinical lead, nurse, nursing assistant and care staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with a visiting healthcare professional.

We reviewed documentation in relation to 6 people, staff recruitment files, medicines records and other documentation relating to the service. We observed care and support in communal areas. Following the inspection we spoke with 13 relatives.

Updated 6 April 2023

About the service

St Michael’s Nursing Home is a nursing home providing personal/ and nursing care to 59 at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 65 people. St Michael’s Nursing Home accommodates people across two separate wings, each of which has separate adapted facilities.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

Right 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.

Right Care:

People and their loved ones told us they were happy and safe living at St Michael’s Nursing home. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had the training and skills to support people, including understanding the risk of abuse and how to report this.

People were supported safely with their medicines. There was detailed guidance in place to inform staff how best to support people, for example with transferring or maintaining healthy skin. When things went wrong there was a robust system in place to learn and improve.

The service was clean and well maintained. Staff completed checks on equipment to ensure it was safe to be used.

Right Culture:

There was a positive culture at the service, which encouraged positive outcomes for people. People and their loved ones were engaged with the service and felt their opinions were valued and used to improve the service. We received positive feedback from people, relatives, staff and healthcare professionals about the registered manager and their positive impact on the service.

The registered manager and staff completed a series of checks and audits to improve the service.

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 good (published 9 June 2018).

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.

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 remains 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 Michael's Nursing 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.