Background to this inspection
Updated
24 August 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:
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and one 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 on this inspection had experience of people living with dementia.
Service and service type:
East hill house is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. The Care Quality commission (CQC) regulates both 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 was an unannounced comprehensive inspection.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed the provider information return. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We reviewed information that we held on the service such as notifications, these are events that happen in the service that the registered provider is required to tell us about.
We considered the last inspection report and information that had been sent to us by other agencies, this included commissioners who had a contract in place with the registered provider.
During the inspection we undertook a tour of the premises along with the registered manager.
We looked at five care plans of people living in the service and five staff recruitment records.
Records in relation to the management of the home were looked at these included, quality assurance audits, staff training, safeguarding, complaints, incident information as well as maintenance and safety checks.
During the inspection we spoke with six people at the home, five relatives, eight staff members, the registered manager, the regional manager for the provider, a social worker and a Dementia Community Champion for Alzheimer’s Society.
We asked the registered manager to send us some policy documents and the staff training matrix, this information was received after the inspection.
Updated
24 August 2019
About the service:
East Hill House is a residential care home that was providing personal care and accommodation for up to 34 people aged 65 and over.
At the time of the inspection there were 31 people living at East Hill House. The majority of people were living with a form of dementia. The home had a dementia care unit called The Willows in the main house which provided care for up to eight people with more significant needs associated with their dementia. There was a small unit opposite the main house called The Court which provided accommodation for up to 10 people who received food services and some personal care but liked to maintain some independence with staff support.
People’s experience of using this service:
Community working was exceptional and led to improved quality of life of people through involvement with community projects and events. We received excellent feedback from people, relatives and external professionals about the activities and engagement with the community. The registered manager prioritised activities that would provide stimulating experiences for people and enable them to feel valued and part of their community. Care plans were detailed and contained good information for staff to help them meet people’s needs.
The home was well led by a management team that were motivated to provide an inclusive environment for people. The registered manager had good oversight of the service where any concerns were identified and acted upon without delay.
We have made a recommendation that the provider and registered manager evaluate the impact of the service initiatives to ensure they achieve exceptional outcomes for people.
People were supported with kindness and compassion. People and their families were involved in the planning of their care and developed positive relationships with staff.
People told us they felt safe and well cared for. People received medicines safely by staff who were competent to give them. People received safe and effective care from staff who understood how to recognise and report issues of concern and potential abuse. When things went wrong the registered manager investigated and staff learned from this and changed practices. People were protected from infection by staff who had completed training in infection control procedures.
People were supported to eat and drink and monitored to ensure they were nourished and hydrated. The provider had effective systems in place to maintain staff skills and knowledge through training and development.
Rating at last inspection:
The service was rated good at the last inspection published on 20th October 2016.
Why we inspected:
This was a planned comprehensive inspection.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to inspect in line with our inspection programme.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk