St Martins Residential Home

Updated 22 November 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

St Martins Residential 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.

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:

This inspection took place on 11 April 2019 and was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information, we had received about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must tell us about, such as any serious injuries to people. The provider also completed a provider information return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with three people using the service, three staff members, the registered manager and Chief executive officer (CEO). We reviewed a range of records including parts of three people's care and support plans and reviews, risk assessments, staff recruitment and training records. We also reviewed records used in managing the service for example policies and procedures monitoring records and minutes of meetings.

Updated 22 November 2019

About the service:

St Martins Residential Home is a residential care home that was providing personal care and support to 26 older people some of whom were living with a dementia at the time of the inspection.

People's experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe and that staff were kind and caring. One person told us, "This is really a good place to live, the staff always pop in and check on us throughout the day.” Staff understood how to support people safely through managing people's medicines, using equipment and managing risks around infection.

Staff working in the service put people at the centre of every decision that was made, and ensured their choices and views were valued and respected.

The culture of the service was positive, and person centred, and staff informed us this was due to good leadership which all came from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and registered manager. Staff understood the importance of people making choices and decisions about their care and encouraged this.

People's privacy and dignity was respected, and their independence encouraged and promoted. Staff knew people well and provided social and emotional support, in addition to meeting people's care needs.

People, their relatives, staff and other professionals were engaged with and involved with the service. Their views were listened to and acted on. The CEO encouraged engagement with the wider community and some people regularly accessed the community for social events.

Risk to people was assessed and care plans which supported staff to deliver personalised care were put in place. People were supported to maintain their health and access healthcare support. Staff worked in partnership with other agencies to ensure people received the right support.

There were enough staff available to support people. Staff were supported to meet the needs of people through training and supervision. Staff were supported with training as needed.

The home was freshly decorated in a homely way and people had personal artefacts in their bedrooms to further enhance the homely feel. People were encouraged to bring things with them to make them more comfortable.

People and their relatives told us that if they had any concerns, staff and the registered manager would respond straight away. People knew how to complain and were confident to do so. When things went wrong, lessons were learnt, and actions put in place to prevent reoccurrence.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. (14 October 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this service and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule.