Archived: Hammerson House

Updated 13 February 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 12 January 2016 and was unannounced. It was undertaken by two inspectors for adult social care and the inspection team included a specialist nurse advisor and an expert-by-experience with experience of working with older people. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included information provided by the service, previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

During the inspection we met and spoke with nine people who lived at the service, and following the inspection spoke with three relatives. We spoke with ten members of staff including a physiotherapist, nurse, a member of the kitchen staff and the registered manager.

We looked at ten care records related to people’s individual care needs, two recruitment files and staff training records for the team. We carried out an audit of medicines stocks at the service and looked at records in relation to medicines management.

As part of the inspection we observed the interactions between people and staff, and discussed people’s care needs with staff.

We used a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We checked fire safety including equipment, testing of the alarm, lighting and the regularity of fire evacuation tests, and information relating to incidents and complaints. We looked at minutes of residents’ meetings and staff team meetings. We also looked around the premises and viewed the garden.

Updated 13 February 2016

We inspected this service on 12 January 2016. The inspection was unannounced. Hammerson House is a Jewish care home registered to provide accommodation and nursing care for up to sixty eight people. At the time of our inspection there were thirty eight people living at the residential and nursing care service. There were an additional nine people living in the supported living wing of the building, where people lived independently without any care provided by staff. This inspection was of the residential and nursing care services only.

The service was located in a purpose built block, on two floors with access to a front and back garden area.

We previously inspected the service on 4 July 2013 when the service was found to be meeting the regulations we looked at.

Hammerson House had a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During the inspection there was a calm and pleasant atmosphere. People using the service informed us that they felt safe living at Hammerson House.

All the people we talked with confirmed they were treated with dignity and respect, and we observed staff interactions with residents during the inspection day and noted them to be warm, engaging and reassuring.

Care records including risk assessments and care plans were up to date and detailed. People were supported to maintain good health by the nursing staff at the home and through regular access to community healthcare professionals such as GPs and local hospital services.

People had their medicines managed safely. People received their medicines as prescribed and on time. Nursing staff ensured safe storage and management of medicines.

Staff had been carefully recruited and provided with training to enable them to care effectively for people. Staff felt supported and there was always a nurse on duty. Supervision was due every second month, but this has not always taken place for all staff. Training was up to date for staff for mandatory courses with the exception of food hygiene, however, the registered manager had dates for the course later in the month.

People told us the management was a visible presence within the home. Staff talked positively about their jobs telling us they enjoyed their work and felt valued. The staff we met were caring, kind and compassionate.

Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns or allegations of abuse and described what action they would take to protect people against harm. Staff told us they felt confident any incidents or allegations would be fully investigated. We saw there were enough staff to meet people's needs.

There was a very full and varied programme of activities at the service and we saw there were a range of trips for shopping or cultural events people could sign up for. There was a café on site with a small shop staffed by volunteers. There was also access to a physiotherapist on site five days a week.

People’s religious needs were actively facilitated by staff, and staff were able to tell us how they responded to people’s cultural needs.

The home had arrangements in place for quality assurance. Regular audits and checks had been carried out by the registered manager.

We found the premises were clean and tidy. Measures were in place for infection control. There was a record of essential inspections and maintenance carried out. The building was fully accessible and maintained to a good standard.

The service had plans for renovations in the near future so the service was not admitting people permanently to the service at the time of the inspection, however people could be admitted for a short term respite placement.