Somerhill Care Home

Updated 13 December 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of three inspectors.

Service and service type

Somerhill Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Somerhill Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we received about the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people living at the service, 4 relatives, 4 staff, the registered manager, and the area manager. We used observations of care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records and 4 people’s medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

Updated 13 December 2023

About the service

Somerhill Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation for people who require personal and nursing care, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury, to up to 40 people. The service is registered to support people with dementia, older people, younger adults and people with physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

Some people raised concerns about the staffing levels within the service. For example, we were told people could not always be supported with personal care when they wanted.

We saw one occasion where a concern was raised from people and relatives, and we found sufficient action was not taken to ensure people’s care needs could be met with regards to their dignity and respect.

We found some concerns relating to the management of people's medicines. For example, care plans did not always contain clear guidance for staff to support people safely, and people did not always have protocols in place for "when required" medicines (PRN).

People described staff as kind and caring. One person told us: “We have a laugh and they treat me lovely.” We observed staff supporting people to make decisions and respecting people’s choices.

There was an open and transparent culture within the service. People had the opportunity to give feedback about their care, and we were told things changed as a result. Relatives were invited to regular meetings where feedback was shared, and actions taken.

We recommend the provider includes feedback from people to ensure staffing levels meet the needs of the people living at the service. We recommend the provider reviews their processes around medication to ensure they are in line with best practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good, published on 5 August 2021. This provider took over the service in July 2022.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider review their quality assurance processes to ensure regulatory requirements, such as submitting notifications to CQC, are met. At this inspection we found these had improved and CQC notifications were sent where appropriate.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels and people’s needs being met. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.