Background to this inspection
Updated
9 February 2022
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.
As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.
This inspection was carried out by one inspector on 19 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service one day’s notice of the inspection.
Updated
9 February 2022
St James House is a residential care home which provides accommodation for up to 30 people who require support with personal care. Accommodation is provided in 30 single bedrooms over two floors. Four of the bedrooms have en suite facilities. There were 26 people living in the home at the time of our inspection.
We found the following examples of good practice.
Staff had received training on infection control and the safe use of personal protective equipment (PPE). During the inspection, we observed staff wearing PPE in accordance with government guidance. The provider had increased the number of hours worked by the domestic staff in the home to ensure high standards of cleanliness were maintained. The provider had policies and procedures in place to support staff in safe working practices. The provider was supporting people to maintain contact with their relatives in line with guidance in place at the time of the inspection. People living in the home were also able to receive visitors with appropriate procedures in place to reduce the risk of cross infection. The provider had also created spaces in the garden area of the home to support visiting should indoor visiting be restricted by government guidance. The service participated in the regular COVID-19 testing programme for both staff and people living in the home. Although the service was meeting the requirement to ensure visiting professionals were vaccinated against COVID-19, they had not always maintained a log of such checks. We have made a recommendation about this.