Seahorses

Updated 12 November 2020

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place. As part of CQC's response to the coronavirus pandemic we are conducting a thematic review of infection control and prevention measures in care homes.

This inspection took place on 27 October 2020 and was announced.

The service was selected to take part in this thematic review which is seeking to identify examples of good practice in infection prevention and control.

Updated 12 November 2020

About the service

Seahorses is a residential care home registered to provide personal and nursing care to older people. The service can support up to 20 people. There were 14 people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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

People living at Seahorses told us they received safe care from skilled and knowledgeable staff. Staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. The provider had safe recruitment and selection processes in place.

Risks to people's safety and well-being were managed through a risk management process. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs. Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines safely and as prescribed.

People told us staff were caring. Staff consistency enabled people to receive good care from staff who knew them well. Staff did all they could to promote independency and we saw examples of such practices.

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. Staff had a particularly good understanding of when the principles of the Mental Capacity Act should be applied. People were supported to meet their nutritional needs and complimented the food at the home

The home was well-led by a registered manager who was committed to improving people’s quality of life. The service had a clear management and staffing structure in place and staff worked well as a team. The provider had effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Staff worked well with external social and health care professionals.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Good (published 21 November 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received around Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards DoLS as well as poor referrals and staff training. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the effective sections 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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk