We carried out a review of the data available to us about Scarbrough Court on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Scarbrough Court, you can give feedback on this service.
Scarbrough Court is a residential care home providing nursing and personal care for up to 58 people. The service provides support to older people including those who may be living with a dementia and/or a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 48 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe and systems were in place to support staff to maintain safety across the home. People and their relatives commented on the very thoughtful and caring nature of the whole staff and management team.
There were enough suitably recruited staff available to meet people’s needs and keep them safe from harm. Staff were well trained and supported in their roles to maintain good skill levels and well being.
Medicines were generally managed well. We have made a recommendation about this to further enhance procedures.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The home was clean and tidy, and staff followed effective infection control procedures.
People received a choice of food and drinks to meet their needs. We did receive a small number of negative comments regarding meals and the registered manager was going to address these. The home was well adapted to the needs of people. We have made a recommendation about outdoor spaces to enhance this.
A range of quality monitoring checks had taken place and were going to be reviewed after feedback to enhance processes.
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 good (published 8 March 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions, Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.
For the key question of Caring and Responsive which was not inspected, we used the rating awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this 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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Scarbrough Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Recommendations
We have made two recommendations. That the provider reviews medicine room temperatures and ensures that all garden spaces are fully utilised and maintained, in line with best practice.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Scarbrough Court is a purpose built care home registered to provide personal care with nursing for up to 58 people, including people who live with dementia. At the time of our visit, 56 people were using the service. The home is not far from the shops and amenities of Cramlington and was maintained and furnished to a high standard. People had their own spacious rooms with ensuite bathrooms and use of communal areas throughout the home, which included landscaped gardens and a roof top garden.
The service has 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.
People had not always received safe care. Staff were knowledgeable about how to keep people safe from harm. Risks to people's safety were assessed and plans were in place to manage and reduce risks. However, due to staff absence a shortfall of staff was created on one of the days of our inspection. This had placed people at risk. We saw that a person on Windsor (a residential unit that supported people who lived with dementia) had fallen on the floor. There were no staff available in the area, until we had alerted them; the person had not sustained an injury. The service had taken immediate action that ensured sufficient staff and had began the process of recruitment to cover any future staff shortfalls, such as annual leave and training. Additionally we found that at times Windsor was left with only one staff member due to staff breaks and meetings. We had discussed this with the registered manager who had taken immediate action to improve.
We have made a recommendation about the assessment of staff numbers and delegation of staff to meet people’s individual needs within the environment they live.
People’s needs were met by staff who were recruited safely using robust procedures. Staff had received the appropriate training, and had their skills monitored. People’s medicines were managed safely by staff that had their competencies measured regularly. Health and safety assessments of the environment were completed that provided people with surroundings that were safe and comfortable.
People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing. Advice was obtained from healthcare professionals when necessary. However, one person's blood pressure had elevated to a concerning level without being referred quickly to relevant health services. Staff had not sought immediate medical advice. This had placed the person at risk of further healthcare complications developing. We brought this to the attention of staff and immediate action was taken for the person to be reviewed by their GP. The registered manager proceeded to investigate why this had happened and also reviewed the daily processes used to monitor people’s health.
People were supported by staff to have maximum choice and control of their lives in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People were supported to eat a choice of freshly prepared meals and were complimentary of the meals provided. They were supported with special diets if required and when necessary their dietary intake was monitored.
Staff received an induction to their role and training to meet the assessed needs of people who use the service. Training updates were provided that included dementia awareness, equality, diversity, and personal care. Staff were supported in their job roles through one to one meetings, appraisals and team meetings.
The service was caring. Staff were kind, considerate and compassionate in the way they delivered support to people. They encouraged people to be as independent as they possibly could be. They addressed people in the way they liked and spoke respectfully to and about people.
The service was responsive. People's relatives and visitors were welcomed into the home and activities were designed to consider people’s individual interests.
Peoples care plans were person centred and mostly detailed the information that staff needed to know to meet their individual needs. There were some omissions of detail to support people with their healthcare needs, which had not been identified through reviews of their care plans or quality monitoring processes. However, during our visit staff had commenced the process of adding the relevant information to the individual care plans.
People received person centred care that focussed on their individual needs and recognised their preferred routines. People and their relatives were comfortable to raise concerns and speak with the registered manager and staff team if they wished.
The service was well-led. There were systems in place to assess, monitor and analyse the service in order to make improvements. The registered manager had a proven record of having made improvements in people’s best interest since becoming the manager at Scarbrough Court. The registered manager told us that they would review their quality monitoring processes to improve and ensure they were robust.
There was a high level of confidence in the registered manager amongst people, their relatives, staff and professionals. They were complementary of the registered manager who promoted an open, transparent and respectful culture within the home.