Swinton Grange

Updated 10 September 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

The inspection team consisted of one inspector 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. The Expert by Experience had knowledge about people living in a nursing home.

Service and service type

Swinton Grange 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service, including notifications about events happening in the service and information from other care professionals. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

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.

During the inspection-

We spoke with four people living in the service and five relatives. We spoke with eight members of staff including the care workers, a nurse, activity coordinator, who was working in the kitchen on the day of our visit, ancillary staff, the registered manager and the head of service. We also spoke with a visiting health care professional. We reviewed a range of records. These included people's care and medication records and staff files in relation to the recruitment, training and supervision of staff and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 10 September 2019

About the service

Swinton Grange is a care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 27 people. At the time of our inspection 25 people were being supported to live there. This was full capacity as two of the registered rooms were used as communal areas. The home is an older converted property. The accommodation is across three floors accessed by a passenger lift.

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

People were kept safe. Risks were managed to maintain people’s safety. The home was clean and generally in a good state of repair. There were adequate staff on duty to meet people’s needs. However, at times we found the deployment of staff could have been improved. Recruitment of staff was robust to ensure suitability. Systems were in place to manage people’s medicines to ensure they received their medicines as they had been prescribed. However, we found some minor issues, which were addressed at the time of our inspection.

Support records reflected people’s needs. Any choices or cultural requirements of the person were included in their records and staff supported people in the way they chose. Staff received training to be able to support people appropriately. People received a balanced diet, we observed the lunchtime experience and found this not as pleasant an experience for people as it could have been. Since our inspection this has been addressed by the registered manager.

We observed staff supporting people in caring and patient ways. Staff and people in the home knew each other well. Staff communicated with people appropriately taking into account any difficulties the person may have in understanding them.

People were predominantly supported as individuals. Mostly we saw positive interactions between staff and people they supported. An activity coordinator was employed. However, on the day of our inspection they were working in the kitchen. We did not observe any meaningful activities taking place.

We have made a recommendation about activities to ensure staff are deployed to provide meaningful activities for people.

Complaints were used to identify learning to improve the service. The culture in the home was friendly and open. People were encouraged to speak up If they had any concerns or ideas to improve the service. The management of the home sought feedback to improve outcomes for people.

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.

People were supported by a team of staff who were happy in their jobs and staff told us they felt supported. Although they did not regularly receive formal supervision. The registered manager and provider completed a range of regular checks on the quality and safety of 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 18 February 2017).

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.