Saltmarsh House Residential Care Home

Updated 14 January 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. We did this to understand how prepared the service was to prevent or manage an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Saltmarsh House Residential Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the last inspection report and information we had received about the service since the last inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and a visiting relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the provider and four members of staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed records the provider sent us in the days following the inspection.

Updated 14 January 2022

About the service

Saltmarsh House Residential Care Home provided personal care to nine people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 12 people in one adapted building.

The provider was registered as an individual (sole trader) with direct responsibility for the carrying on of the regulated activity at the location. As a consequence they did not need to have a registered manager.

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

People were protected from avoidable harm and abuse. There were improvements in how the provider managed medicines and risks to people’s safety and well-being. The provider supported people to keep themselves and their belongings safe and secure. We were assured people were protected from risks associated with the spread of infections.

The service was well managed and led. The leadership and culture promoted good quality, person-centred care. There were improvements in how the provider monitored the quality of service people received.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 7 October 2019) and there were breaches of two regulations.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 1 August 2019. Breaches of two legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve in the areas of good governance, and safe care and treatment.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Saltmarsh House Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.