Archived: Mersey Parks Care Home

Updated 22 December 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.

The inspection team consisted of two adult social care inspectors.

Prior to this inspection, we reviewed all the information we held about the service, including data about safeguarding and statutory notifications. Statutory notifications are submitted to the Care Quality Commission and tell us about important events that the provider is required to send us. We spoke with the local authority and a national consumer champion in health care, to gain their feedback about the care people received. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service. At the time of our inspection there were no safeguarding concerns being investigated by the local authority.

Not everyone was able to share verbally their experiences of life at the home. This was because people were living with dementia. We therefore used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We observed how staff interacted with people who lived at the home and how people were supported during meal times and during individual tasks and activities.

We spoke with a range of people about this service. They included five people who lived at the home and nine relatives who visited people during our inspection. We spoke with the registered manager, six members of the management team and 14 staff. We spoke with three visiting health professionals and a regular visitor to Mersey Parks Care Home. We took a tour of the care home and spent time on the four units that were open when we inspected. We observed staff interactions with people and checked documents in relation to 13 people who lived at Mersey Parks Care Home. We reviewed five staff files and records about staff training and support, as well as those related to the management and safety of the home.

Updated 22 December 2016

The inspection visit at Mersey Parks Care Home took place on 2 and 3 November 2016 and was unannounced.

Mersey Parks Care Home is a purpose built care home and provides care in four separate buildings on the one site. Each building can accommodate up to 30 people. One of the units provides nursing care and three provide residential care. The home provides nursing and personal care to older people and people who are living with dementia. The home is located in a residential area with good access to public transport. At the time of our inspection there were 103 people living at the home.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

At the last inspection on 29 July 2014, we found the provider was meeting the requirements of the regulations inspected.

During this inspection, we observed the administration of medicines at lunchtime. People said they received their medicines when they needed them. However, staff did not always administer medicines safely because records had not been completed in line with the service’s policies and procedures.

We made a recommendation about the safe administration of medicines and have been provided with evidence to demonstrate this has been addressed.

Medicines were safely and appropriately stored and secured safely when not in use. We checked how staff stored and stock checked controlled drugs. We noted this followed current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

We found staffing levels were regularly reviewed to ensure people were safe. There was an appropriate skill mix of staff to ensure the needs of people who used the service were being met.

The provider had recruitment and selection procedures to minimise the risk of inappropriate employees working with vulnerable people. Checks had been completed prior to any staff commencing work at the service. This was confirmed from discussions with staff.

Staff received training related to their role and were knowledgeable about their responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

Staff had received safeguarding from abuse training and understood their responsibilities to report any unsafe care or abusive practices related to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults. Staff we spoke with told us they were aware of the safeguarding procedure.

People and their representatives told us they were involved in their care and had discussed and consented to their care. We found staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People who were able told us they were happy with the variety and choice of meals available to them. We saw regular snacks and drinks were provided between meals to ensure people received adequate nutrition and hydration.

We found people had access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs were being met. We saw the management team had responded promptly when people had experienced health problems.

Comments we received demonstrated people were satisfied with their care. The management and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. They were committed to providing a good standard of care and support to people who lived at the home.

Care plans were organised and identified the care and support people required. We found they were informative about care people had received. They had been kept under review and updated when necessary to reflect people’s changing needs.

People told us they were happy with the activities organised at Mersey Parks Care Home. The activities were arranged for individuals and for groups.

A complaints procedure was available and people we spoke with said they knew how to complain. People and staff spoken with felt the registered manager was accessible, supportive and approachable.

The registered manager had sought feedback from people who lived at the home and staff. They had consulted with people and their relatives for input on how the service could continually improve. The provider had regularly completed a range of audits to maintain people’s safety and welfare.