Norton House

Updated 11 May 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 the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 17 March 2021 and was announced.

Updated 11 May 2021

About the service

Norton House is a care home which accommodates up to 40 older people and people living with dementia in the City of Westminster. The service provides care over four floors. One floor is a transitional unit for providing short-term respite care. At the time of our inspection there were 37 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service

People were positive about the service and the care they received. A person told us “If you’re going to be in a care home this is the one to be in.”

There were systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. People told us they liked living in the service and had no concerns about their safety. There were enough staff to both meet people’s needs and allow care workers to spend quality time with people. Staff were recruited safely. Risks to people’s wellbeing were assessed and measures to manage these were in place.

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. People’s needs and choices were assessed appropriately and care workers received the right training and supervision to carry out their roles. People had the right support to eat and drink and to stay well. Concerns about people’s wellbeing were acted on promptly. The home was clean and well maintained, and laid out in a way which met people’s needs.

People were supported to express their views about their care and were involved in decisions about the running of the service. People told us they were treated with dignity and respect and staff demonstrated a good awareness of people’s choices and preferences.

The registered managers engaged with people and their care workers to make sure the service was performing well and took action to improve the service when required. There were good systems of audit to make sure that issues were addressed promptly. Managers promoted an open and supportive culture and made sure there was good communication.

People had access to a varied and interesting activity programme and spent time with care workers on individual activities of their choice. People’s care was designed to meet their needs and people had discussed their wishes for the end of their lives. Complaints were responded to appropriately by managers.

The provider did not always systematically monitor people’s goals and priorities for their care. We have made a recommendation about this.

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 28 February 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.