• Care Home
  • Care home

Mellish House Residential Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Kings Hill, Great Cornard, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 0EH (01787) 372792

Provided and run by:
Stour Sudbury Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 15 September 2022

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 one Inspector and an Expert by Experience who made telephone calls to relatives.

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Mellish House 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. [Care home name] is a care home [with/without] nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 17 August 2022 when we visited the service. On the 18 August we made telephone calls to family members of people who used the service.

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

During the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service, eight staff, including the registered manager. We also spoke to 10 family members of people receiving support.

We reviewed five care records, medicines administration records (MAR) and three staff records. We also reviewed other records, including policies and procedures, and records relating to the quality and safety monitoring of the service.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 15 September 2022

Mellish House is a residential care home providing accommodation, and personal care for up to 48 people across two floors. The service provides specialist care to people living with dementia across both floors. At the time of our inspection there were 42 people using the service.

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

The management team conducted a variety of audits to assess the quality and safety of care provided. This included a report following a daily walk around the building. However, the shortfalls we identified in relation to fire safety, the dignified care of people’s belongings following death, medicines management and people’s access to personal care equipment had not been identified. In response to our findings the registered manager took action to update and improve systems to improve oversight and governance.

There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs. Staff were safely recruited and checks were made on their suitability.

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.

Relatives spoke positively about the caring culture of the service and felt that their loved ones were safe and well supported. They also told us the service was managed well, communication was good and their opinions were sought in the planning and review of people’s care and treatment.

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 outstanding (published 29 December 2017).

Why we inspected

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.

The inspection was promoted in part due to concerns in relation to restrictive visiting procedures. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. The provider took action to mitigate the risks we identified.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from outstanding to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Mellish House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.