Background to this inspection
Updated
25 July 2019
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
One inspector, one assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection.
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
Horse Fair Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.
We asked the local authority and Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with six people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. In addition, 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.
We spoke with ten members of staff including, the activity coordinator, registered manager, deputy manager, housekeeper, team leader, head chef, home trainer, senior carer and two care staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. In addition, we looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring checks were reviewed.
Updated
25 July 2019
About the service
Horse Fair Care Home provides accommodation and or personal care for up to 72 people. Accommodation is provided over two floors in the same building, Elmore suite on the ground floor and Lea Hall suite on the first floor. On the day of our inspection, 64 people were receiving services at Horse Fair Care Home, some of whom were living with dementia.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received safe care and support as the staff team had been trained to recognise potential signs of abuse and understood what to do to safely support people.
Staff members followed effective infection prevention and control procedures when supporting people. Staff members had access to, and used, appropriate personal protection equipment.
The provider had assessed the risks to people associated with their care and support. Staff members were knowledgeable about these risks and knew what to do to minimise the potential of harm to people.
People safely received support with their medicines by trained and competent staff members.
Staff members were aware of the necessary action they should take in the event of an emergency.
The provider supported staff in providing effective care for people through person-centred care planning, training and one-to-one supervision.
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 at Horse Fair Care Home supported this practice.
People had access to additional healthcare services when required.
People were supported to maintain a healthy diet by a staff team which knew their individual preferences.
People received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had developed positive relationships.
People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age, gender and disability.
People were provided with information in a way they could understand. The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any complaints or compliments from people or those close to them.
The provider, and management team, had good links with the local communities within which people lived.
The management team and provider had systems in place to identify improvements and drive good care.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was ‘Good’ (published 25 April 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.