We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

St Nectans 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.

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 the information we held about the service and the service provider, including the previous inspection report. The registered provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at notifications and any safeguarding alerts we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

During the inspection we looked around the service and met with the people who lived there. As some people were unable to fully communicate with us, we spent time observing the interactions with people and staff. We spoke with 12 people in more detail to understand their views and experiences of the service and we observed how staff supported people. We spoke with the manager, registered provider and seven members of staff. Following the inspection, we requested feedback from four health and social care professionals.

We reviewed the care records of five people who were using the service and a range of other documents. For example, medicine records, four staff recruitment files; staff training records and records relating to the management of the service.