Saffron Gardens - Prospect Place

Saffron Gardens - Prospect Place is a residential care home providing residential and nursing care for up to 70 people. At the time of our inspection there were 62 people using the service. Accommodation is split over five units

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

People received care and support from staff who were kind, caring and patient in their approach. We observed how people responded to staff positively with smiles and laughter. At the midday meal, people received support when they needed it in a calm and unrushed manner.

There were sufficient staff to ensure people’s safety. Over the course of the pandemic there had been challenges around staffing levels, however the impact on people had been minimised through using regular agency staff. There were risk assessments in place to manage risk and guide staff in providing safe support. There were fire safety systems throughout the home, and these were in the process of being improved at the time of our inspection.

Staff received training and supervision to support them in providing effective care. The registered manager supported staff to develop into more senior roles where they wished to do so. Staff worked with healthcare professionals to meet people’s needs.

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.

There was a culture of openness and willingness to learn. The registered manager was able to tell us about action they had taken in response to previous concerns raised by families and we saw evidence that learning had been implemented. We received feedback that communication between the home and families hadn’t always been good and have made a recommendation in relation to addressing this. We have also made a recommendation regarding recording.

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 4 December 2018).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns raised by relatives. These concerns included staffing, communication and quality of food, as well as concerns regarding care provided to individuals. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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 found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.

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 Saffron Gardens 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.

Saffron Gardens is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At the time of our inspection there wasn’t a registered manager in place. 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. Plans were implemented immediately to recruit a new registered manager and shortly after our inspection we were informed that a successful candidate had been found for the post.

The service was outstanding in its responsiveness to people’s individual needs. There was a strong person centred culture and staff understood the needs of people they supported exceptionally well. There was a wellbeing team leading activities and a member of staff was employed in the role of homemaker to enable more quality time to be spent with people.

The service was safe. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs safely. The provider had recently created a ‘twilight shift’ to help manage people’s needs at a busy time in the evening when they were preparing for bed. People received support with the medicines when they needed them; they were stored safely.

Staff were kind and caring. Our observations throughout the inspection showed that positive relationships had been formed between people and staff. This was confirmed through feedback from people and their relatives. People were treated with dignity and respect and there was a pleasant atmosphere throughout our visit.

Nursing staff were knowledgeable about people’s health needs and managed them well. Staff worked with healthcare professionals to ensure people received good care. People were supported nutritionally; their weight was monitored and action taken when there were concerns. People who needed support at mealtime received this from staff who were patient and kind. Staff told us they were well trained and received regular supervision. They felt able to approach senior staff with any issues or concerns.

At the time of our inspection there wasn’t a registered manager in place; however this had only been for a short period and the provider had acted promptly to recruit to the post. The head of clinical excellence was supporting the service through this time and a senior nurse had been brought over from another home within the organisation to support the home. There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service; this included gathering feedback from people and their relatives..