New Forest Nursing Home

Updated 7 November 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

New Forest Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Some people at New Forest Nursing Home were not able to fully share with us their experiences of using the service. Therefore, we spent time observing interactions between people and the staff supporting them in in communal areas.

We spoke with five people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three professionals who regularly visit the service. We spoke with ten members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager, deputy manager, clinical auditor, registered nurses, senior carer, carers, domestic staff and second chef. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 7 November 2019

About the service

New Forest Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 37 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 48 people.

New Forest Nursing Home provides accommodation and nursing care for up to 48 people, some of whom may be living with dementia or have a physical disability. The home is in a rural location in Fritham, near Lyndhurst. Accommodation is split over two floors. There is access to landscaped gardens and grounds.

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

People were safe and supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. We saw evidence of people’s and their relative’s involvement in care assessments.

Risks to people were recorded in their care plans and staff demonstrated they had a good knowledge of people. People mostly received their medicines safely.

People and their relatives were very positive about the food. People were encouraged to maintain a healthy, balanced diet, based on their individual needs and had access to food and drink whenever they wanted.

The home had a consistent staff team who understood the needs of people well. We saw staff upheld and promoted people’s rights relating to equality and diversity. People and their relatives were positive about the quality of care and support people received.

Staff identified what was important to people and endeavoured to provide meaningful experiences and lasting happy memories. New Forest Nursing Home offered bespoke care and support for people at end stage of life (EOL) and to their families.

People and their relatives told us that they thought the home was well led and spoke positively about the registered manager, nominated individual and provider. The registered manager, nominated individual and provider carried out numerous audits to ensure the service was effective.

The manager was proactive in ensuring they had a visible presence within the home and operated an open-door policy ensuring that any low-level concerns were dealt with promptly preventing escalation. The service was well-led by a management team whose passion and drive to deliver a good service, leading by example, was evident.

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 18 January 2017).

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.