St Claire's Care Home

Updated 27 January 2021

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 16 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 27 January 2021

About the service

St Claire's Care Home is a residential care home providing care and accommodation care to 24 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. Some people were living with dementia. The service can support up to 39 people. The accommodation is provided in one adapted building which is located near to the town centre.

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

People felt safe living at the service. Risks to people were well managed by a staff team who understood people’s needs well. People were protected from the risk of abuse and there were appropriate systems in place to safeguard people.

Medicines were well managed which meant people received their medicines as prescribed. People were happy with the support they received with their medicines including support to manage any pain.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had the skills and knowledge they needed to support people well. Staff had time to chat to people and people were positive about them. New staff had been recruited safely and pre-employment checks had been carried out.

People told us they were happy with the care they received. They told us they were treated with respect, kindness and compassion. People’s privacy was respected, and they were supported to lead dignified lives. Staff knew people well and care was provided in a person-centred way which respected people’s individual needs.

People were supported to maintain their independence and continue to do things for themselves where possible. Where appropriate, people went out independently or were supported to do so. 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 supported people to maintain their health and wellbeing. People confirmed they had access to healthcare services when they needed this. People were positive about the food and were supported to maintain their weight and stay hydrated.

People were encouraged to express their views and told us they felt listened to. There were systems in place to seek feedback from people, relatives and health and social care professionals and improvements were made to the service where appropriate.

The service was clean and the environment pleasant and welcoming. The environment had been adapted to meet people’s individual needs and was suitable for people living with dementia.

Staff were aware of infection control and the appropriate actions had been taken to protect people from harm.

People benefited from their care being provided by a well-led service which had continued to improve. Staff, relatives and health and social care professionals told us the service was well managed. Staff were supported, happy and motivated and this led to their being a positive atmosphere at the service.

There were regular audits to identify where improvements were needed, and action had been taken to address any concerns found. Staff understood their responsibilities to raise concerns and incidents were recorded, investigated and acted upon. Lessons learnt were shared and trends were analysed. The service worked in partnership with other agencies learn and share best practice.

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 Requires Improvement (published 11 July 2018). There were no breaches of regulation and we did not ask the provider to complete an action plan.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.