Archived: Sunny Bank

Sunny Bank is registered to provide nursing care for up to 31people in a residential area of Weymouth. At the time of our inspection the home was not providing nursing care and there were 10 older people with residential care needs living in the home.

There was a registered manager who had led the home for a number of years. 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.

Staff were confident and consistent in their knowledge of people’s care needs and felt supported in their roles. They understood how the Mental Capacity Act 2005 provided a framework for the care they provided and encouraged people to make decisions about their care.

People were protected from harm because staff understood the risks they faced and how to reduce these risks. They also knew how to identify and respond to abuse. Care and treatment was delivered in a way that met people’s individual needs and staff kept clear records about the care they provided.

People had access to health care professionals and were supported to maintain their health by staff. People received their medicines as they were prescribed.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards had been applied for when people who needed to live in the home to be cared for safely did not have the mental capacity to consent to this. Staff understood these Safeguards and where there were conditions attached to them they were being met.

People were engaged with a range of activities that reflected individual preferences, including individual and group activities. Activities were supported by care staff and were available throughout our inspection.

People described the food as good and there were systems in place to ensure people had enough food to eat and enough to drink.

People and their relatives were positive about the care they received from the home and told us the staff were compassionate and kind. Staff treated people, relatives, visitors and other staff with respect and kindness.

The registered manager took responsibility for quality assurance in the home and shared this role with senior staff. Where the improvements were identified as necessary action was taken to ensure this happened.

The provider had systems in place to ensure that those people who were assessed as being at risk of malnutrition were monitored and action was taken which included referral to other professionals for advice.

The provider had made improvements to the environment. A system had been developed to carry out health and safety checks on a monthly basis.

There were sufficient staff on duty to meet the needs of those living at the home. The staff told us that they felt supported and had opportunities to further their knowledge of caring for people through training.

Medicines were managed by staff who were suitable trained and competent to administer them.

The environment had not been adequately maintained and posed a risk to the health and safety of those living or visiting the home.

The staff were suitably qualified for the roles they undertook but there were insufficient numbers of them to meet people's needs.

We observed that people were listened to and their views were taken into account by the provider. People received the care that they needed. One person told us "All the staff are helpful, I like them.' There were positive interactions by a member of staff supporting a person to stay at the table to enjoy their lunch.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of safeguarding people and could identify the different types of abuse people could experience. They were aware of the action they should take if abuse was witnessed, reported or suspected.

People received the care that they needed but we saw that some areas of the home were not suitable and did not meet people's needs. We observed one person who used the service struggling to cross a landing on the first floor at the top of the staircase. The person was very unsteady but there were no handrails to hold and they could not use their walking frame in this area. There were other areas of the home that were difficult for people to use because of the layout of the building.