Archived: St Mary's Care Home

Updated 5 November 2021

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. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors. An expert by experience made telephone calls to people using the service and their relatives, following our visit to the care home to get their views.

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

St Mary’s Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the 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 inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed all the information we had received about the service since our previous inspection. This included the contents of whistleblowing concerns and notifications made by the service.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and seven relatives. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior care workers and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 5 November 2021

About the service

St Mary’s Care Home is a care home providing personal care to a maximum of 44 older people. At the time of our visit there were 18 people using the service.

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

Improvements had been made to ensure that risk assessments were clear and included how risks were to be mitigated.

The environment was safe and checks were carried out to identify any areas for action. There were appropriate infection, prevention and control procedures in place and staff were following these.

Medicines were managed and administered safely, and in line with the instructions of the prescriber.

Sufficient numbers of staff were deployed to ensure people were provided with support when they needed it.

Improvements had been made to the quality assurance system in place and areas for action were identified and acted upon.

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 this service was ‘Inadequate’ (Report published 19 February 2021)

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.

This service has been in Special Measures since 19 February 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was planned to check whether the service had made the necessary improvements identified at the previous inspection.

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.

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.