Stonebow House Residential Home

Updated 19 January 2024

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection, we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspectors and 1 Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Stonebow House is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Stonebow House is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection, including notifications of significant events. We contacted the local authority to ask for feedback. We also requested feedback from Healthwatch to obtain their views of the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents

the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 12 people and 4 relatives. We spoke with 8 staff, this included the registered manager, lead carer, maintenance person, administrator and 4 care staff. We spoke with 3 visiting healthcare professionals. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care and medicines records and 3 staff records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including managers and providers audits were also reviewed.

Updated 19 January 2024

About the service

Stonebow House Residential Home is a residential home providing personal care to older people aged 65 years and over. At the time of our inspection 25 people were living at the service.

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

Improvements were required to ensure all aspects of medicines were managed safely, particularly with further knowledge being needed regarding medicine types and side effects.

The providers infection control measures required further enhancing to ensure all areas of the home had been cleaned to good standard.

The provider had a consistent management team and governance systems were in place. Internal audits were completed but required further oversight to ensure they had identified where areas of improvement were needed.

The provider had systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff had received training and shared good knowledge of how to raise concerns. People and relatives told us they felt safe and would be listened to if they raised concerns. The provider had risk assessments in place to help reduce risk and keep people safe.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Further consideration of documentation was required in relation to people leaving the property.

People were supported by staff who knew them well. We observed staff were kind and caring in the approach. Staff had completed an induction process, followed by shadowing shifts and had their competencies assessed by senior staff or managers.

Effective systems were in place to gather feedback from people, relatives, staff and professionals which was used to drive improvements and positive outcomes.

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 21 August 2021].

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about management of risks and oversight. 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 undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Stonebow House Residential Home 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.