Updated 15 April 2025
Date of assessment: 29 April 2025 to 19 May 2025. St Catherines Care Home is a care home providing accommodation and nursing care to older people, some of whom were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection visit there were 26 people receiving care. This assessment was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last assessment. The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, meeting nutritional and hydration needs, staffing and governance. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations.
Since our last inspection, there was an improving picture and managers had worked to implement changes and make improvements, these needed to be fully embedded, sustained and built upon. A new regional manager and clinical nurse specialist had been providing oversight and supporting the registered manager to implement more effective governance systems.
Staff had been focused on ensuring Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) assessments and best interest decisions were completed and recorded where required. However, we found certain best interest decisions still needed to be recorded and, in some cases, assessments needed to be more decision specific. The provider’s oversight and monitoring of the ordering and administration of medicines had improved. Managers told us they had focused on the safe administration of medicines and regular audits had been undertaken.
The provider needed to ensure ongoing improvements were maintained to ensure record keeping was robust, that staff followed plans to manage risk and there was always sufficient staff especially when there were unexpected absences. We found there had been an oversight in relation to meeting the requirements to notify CQC of certain events.