Sussex House Care Home

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

People told us they felt safely supported by staff who understood their individual needs. Staff understood types of abuse to look out for and were confident in the processes in place to raise their concerns for further investigation. The registered manager ensured staff training remained up to date. Staff received appropriate supervision and spoke positively about the management approach. People received assessments of their individual needs. Identified risks were recorded with actions to support the delivery of safe care and sport, and to help people to safely manage their independence with everyday tasks. People received their medicines safely as prescribed. Although some parts of the service required decorating, the home environment was clean and well maintained.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People told us staff provided advice and discussed any health issues. One person said “Yes, staff talk to me about my health.”

Staff told us outcomes form any investigations were discussed as part of any lessons learnt. Comments from staff included, “If there is an incident, management inform us via meetings or calls. We learn from them and do things differently.” “We get to know things in team meetings, there is always room for learning.”

Processes were in place for staff to learn from accidents and incidents. Lessons learnt were in place and de-briefs provided when required.

People told us they felt safe and listened to by staff. They told us staff acted on their concerns. Comments from people included, “When I am unwell, staff will contact the mental health team.” “If I am in pain staff will contact the GP, sometimes they have to take me to hospital.”

Staff told us they would always keep families involved in a person’s care. One staff member told us care plans and risk assessments would support them to ensure people access other services safely.

Professionals who visit the service told us staff were very organised and would follow up on any concerns raised by them.

People were involved in their Care and support. Assessment records of people’s needs gave good direction to staff, this ensured people were transitioned safely into the service with ongoing risks managed to safely promote independence.

People told us they were safe, A relative told us, Staff are brilliant here, they do so much for people. Comments from people included “I feel safe here.” “I feel very safe, we can always speak to a member of staff.”

Staff told us they would report any safeguarding to their seniors and/or registered manager. They told us all concerns would be investigated with outcomes and any actions to keep people safe.

We observed good and kind interactions between staff and people. People appeared comfortable in the presence of staff and engaged well with them.

All staff were up to date with Safeguarding training and were confident with the processes to raise any concerns. The provider had a system in place to review Safeguarding. Analysis of information for themes and trends was completed with action plans and lessons learnt to help maintain people's safety.

People told us they were involved in managing their risks to support and promote safe independent living. One person said, “I smoke and staff explain the risks to me about having lighters in my room.” A relative said, “[Person’s name] has risks around money and they [Staff] are teaching her budgeting.”

Staff told us they would always involve people in their risk assessments. Where people required additional input staff would involve family members and advocate services who were able to help people with their decision making.

People made choices about their care and positive risk-taking measure were in place. We observed care being person centred and people were supported to be independent.

Risk assessments were person centred and regularly reviewed for staff to use to provide safe care and to support people to safely improve daily living skills. Personal Emergency Evacuation plans were in place and gave good guidance to staff to help people evacuate the home in the event of an emergency.

People told us they had no concerns about the environment of their home. They told us if they required any equipment that it was well maintained and in in good working order.

Staff told us they service was well maintained and processes were in place to ensure equipment people used was serviced as required.

Although some parts of the service required decorating, it was clean and well maintained. The dining area was pleasant and people sat together to eat their meals.

Good processes were in place to maintain the health and safety of the home. All relevant health and safety certificates were in place and up to date. Fire drills were completed monthly, and staff knew what to do in the event of a fire.

People told us there were enough staff to care for them. Comments included, “Yes there is a lot of staff.” “All staff are nice and the boss lady is nice, if I struggle I can ask someone.”

Staff told us they had no concerns about staffing. Staff told us, “Everyday is different, but we always get everything done.”

We observed enough staff on shift to care for people safely. Staff engaged with people and were observed taking part in activities.

A range of checks ensured staff were recruited safely. There were appropriate staffing levels and skill mix to ensure people received safe, consistent care. Staff were up to date with mandatory training and told us there were opportunities for development.

People told us the home was clean and tidy, one person said, “The staff support me to keep my room nice.” A relative said, “it is always clean when I have been there and [Person’s name] room is lovely.”

Staff understood how to protect the home against the risks from infection. They followed the correct infection, prevention, and control procedures and used the correct protective equipment.

We observed staff wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment during mealtimes. Staff used dedicated donning and doffing sites to reduce the associated risks further across the home.

There was an up-to-date policy in place and this was followed to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. All associated records were completed, and audits were completed to snure processes remained relevant an dup to date.

People told us staff supported them safely with their medication where this was required. One person said, “I am having a lot of changes with my medication at the moment, but staff are helping me.” Positive behaviour support plans were in place for people which were person centred and detailed the required actions to safely mange people's behaviours.

Staff told us they had good relationships with the pharmacy and did not have any issues when ordering people's medicines. All staff who administered medicines had received their training and had their competencies assessed.

Systems and processes were in place to safely manage and administer peoples medicines following best practice guidance.