Archived: Seymour Care Home

Updated 17 May 2023

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 was carried out by 2 inspectors and 1 medicines inspector.

Service and service type

Seymour Care Home 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. Seymour Care Home 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 4 people who lived at Seymour Care Home about their experience of the care provided and 3 relatives. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior carers, activities co-ordinator and care assistants.

We reviewed a range of records including 6 care plans. A variety of records related to the quality, safety and management of the service were also reviewed. During the inspection we reviewed 6 medicine administration records and looked at medicines related documentation. We observed medicines administration, checked storage, and spoke with 3 staff in relation to medicines management.

We also used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 17 May 2023

About the service

Seymour Care Home is residential care home located in East Manchester. The home is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide personal care and accommodation for up to 27 people over the age of 65, including people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there was 21 people living at the service.

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

People were not supported safely. Risks to people were not always robustly assessed and mitigated. Medicines were not safely managed. Staff were not recruited and deployed safely and effectively.

People were not always treated with dignity and respect. We observed one person who became very distressed being left by 3 members of staff. Support around mealtimes was sometimes undignified, with some meals returning to the kitchen uneaten. There were times, the communal areas were very loud and not always favourable for people living with dementia, on one occasion a person had their fingers in their ears as it was so loud. People were not always involved in planning and reviewing their care.

The providers internal governance processes did not highlight the concerns we found at this inspection. We found training was ineffective at the service. There were concerns in relation to the culture at the service.

Mental capacity assessments were ineffective and some in some cases not decision specific. They were not detailed and did not cover how the service had assessed people’s capacity. Some people’s capacity assessments had not been reviewed for some time.

Records in relation to safeguarding were not robust enough. We have made recommendation about this.

The service worked well with external agencies including district nursing and primary care.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (Published 04 April 2022)

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found the provider remained in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service sustained a serious injury. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk, staffing, recruitment, and training. This inspection examined 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.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to person centred care, dignity and respect, need for consent, safe care and treatment, governance and oversight of the service, staffing and fit and proper persons employed.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.

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