Archived: Hillside Farm Care Home

Hillside Farm Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation with personal and nursing care to eight people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The majority of people living at the home are older people living with dementia. The service accommodates up to 10 people in one adapted building and is in a rural setting outside the village of Bunny in Nottinghamshire.

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

People did not always receive their prescribed medicines safely. Risks associated with the service environment were not always assessed and mitigated.

We recommend that the manager ensures that risks relating to people’s health and safety are reviewed. We also recommend that the manager ensures that their management system identifies and manages risks.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Although the manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, they had not ensured that they had consistently followed these principles.

The manager understood their role and responsibilities in relation to managing a registered care home. The manager undertook audits of all aspects of the service to review the quality of care, and identify areas where improvements were needed. However, these audits and checks did not always identify areas for improvement.

People and their relatives felt the service was safe. Staff understood how to recognise and report concerns or abuse. People were protected from risks associated with their assessed health needs. There were enough staff to keep people safe, and people were protected from the risk of infections. Accidents and incidents were reviewed and monitored to identify trends and to prevent reoccurrences.

People's needs and choices were assessed in line with current legislation and guidance in a way that helped to prevent discrimination. People and relatives felt staff got the right training to meet their needs. People were supported and encouraged to have a varied diet that gave them enough to eat and drink. People were supported by staff to access healthcare services when required. The manager had taken steps to ensure the environment was accessible for people.

People and relatives spoke positively about the staff who supported them. People and relatives were involved in making decisions about care. People said staff always treated them with respect. Staff had a good understanding of dignity in care and had training in this. Staff respected people's right to confidentiality.

People were regularly asked for their views about their care. Relatives were also involved in reviewing family members’ care with them. Staff were proactive in responding to people’s individual needs and encouraged them to do things which were meaningful to them and made them happy. The manager had a system in place to respond to complaints and concerns. People and their relatives were encouraged to talk about their wishes regarding care towards the end of their lives.

People and relatives felt the service was well-led. Staff felt supported in their work, and there was a positive team attitude.

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 31 January 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about how medicines were managed. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe section of this full report.

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.

At our last inspection on 12 and 13 May 2016 we rated the service good overall. At this inspection we found that evidence continued to support a rating of overall Good but the rating for the key question Caring had improved to Outstanding.

Feedback from people who used the service, health and social care professionals and staff was consistently and unanimously positive. People told us they enjoyed living at the service because it was a friendly home. The registered person and staff consistently displayed outstanding empathy and compassionate care.

Relatives were unstinting in their praise of the service. They unanimously said that the home was exceptionally caring and they felt very fortunate their family members lived there.

All feedback we saw emphasised the excellent caring nature of the staff and the family like environment that existed at the service.

The service’s success was built on family values of kindness and care. The registered person’s enthusiasm, energy and compassion created a service that was indistinguishable from a family home. The registered person was driven by their passion for caring for people.

The registered person and staff had an excellent understanding of people’s needs. Staff supported people to continue to follow life-long interests. The people were from rural and farming communities and this was reflected in how the home and people’s rooms were decorated and furnished.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe from harm without restricting their choices about how they spent their time. They treated people with dignity and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.

Staff explained to people what their medicines were for and how they should be taken. People knew when they should have their medicines.

A robust recruitment and selection process was in place. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. The registered person exercised great care in who they employed at the service. They employed only staff who demonstrated that caring and compassionate behaviour was possible without over-stepping professional boundaries.

We saw that people were comfortable in the presence of staff and the registered person.

Staff supported people with their nutritional needs. Staff arranged for people to be visited by GPs, nurses and other professionals when they were unwell.

Staff understand the importance of supporting people to live life to the full whilst they were fit and able to do so. People participated in activities that stimulated them and kept them physically active.

People contributed to plans about how they wanted to be cared for towards the end of their lives and their funeral arrangements.

Staff spoke consistently about the service being an exceptional place to work and one that was well led. The registered person worked in partnership with other organisations. The service had an excellent reputation locally and was sought after.

The registered person carried out regular checks to ensure people were safe and receiving the care and support they needed.

The home was well maintained, decorated and furnished to exceptionally high standards and kept clean.

People and relatives knew how to raise concerns or make complaints in the event they had any.

More information can be found in the detailed findings below

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 4 July 2016)

About the service: Hillside Farm Care Home is registered to accommodate 10 older people. At the time of our inspection there were seven people living in the home.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

We inspected Hillside Farm Care Home on 12 and 13 May 2016. The inspection was unannounced.

Hillside Farm Care Home is a purpose built single floor building on the outskirts of the Nottinghamshire village of Bunny. The service provides residential care for up to ten older people with or without dementia. At the time of our visit, seven people were living at the service and had support needs associated with dementia and physical health conditions.

The service was managed by the provider who was registered with CQC to provide accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, therefore a registered manager was not required. 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 told us they felt safe at Hillside Farm Care Home and did not have any concerns. Staff knew how to protect people from harm and referrals were made to appropriate authority when concerns were raised.

Risks to peoples safety were identified and managed and assessments carried out to minimise risk of harm. For example falls or environmental risks. The building was well maintained and regular safety checks, for example for gas and electricity, were carried out.

People received care and support in a timely way as there were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and experienced staff employed. Appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out before staff began work at Hillside Farm Care Home.

People received their prescribed medicines when required and these were stored and administered safely. We informed the provider of issues we identified and these were rectified straight away.

People received effective care from staff who received training and support to ensure they could meet people’s needs. Ongoing training and assessment for care staff was scheduled to help maintain their knowledge.

People provided consent to any care and treatment provided. Where they did not have capacity to offer informed consent their best interests and rights were protected under the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

People told us they enjoyed the food offered and we saw they had sufficient quantities of food and drink to help them maintain healthy nutrition and hydration. People had access to healthcare professionals when required and staff followed their guidance to ensure people maintained good health.

People were treated with dignity and respect and their privacy was protected. We observed positive, caring relationships between staff and people using the service. Where possible people were involved in making decisions about their care and daily activities. Where they were unable to do so, their relatives were involved to ensure their best interests were protected.

Staff understood peoples support needs and ensured they received personalised responsive care. People had the opportunity to take part in enjoyable, constructive activities. They knew how to raise an issue and were confident these would be listened to and acted on.

There was an open and transparent culture at the service. People, their relatives and staff were encouraged to have their say on their experience of care and their comments were acted on. Quality monitoring systems were in place to identify areas for improvement and ensure these were acted on.

We observed care staff were attentive to people's needs. We saw people were spoken to and cared for in a kind and respectful manner. We observed people responding positively to the care staff's interventions.

We found that the provider had appropriate systems in place for ensuring cleanliness and the protection of people from infections. However, we found the systems the provider had for identifying and managing maintenance and ensuring equipment safety was not working as required.

We found a number of concerns regarding medication. We found that medication was not always stored within acceptable temperature ranges. We also found inconsistencies in the way medication was being recorded.

We found the system the provider had in place for maintaining accurate records was not working as required.