Southfield House

Updated 27 June 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type: Southfield House Care Home is a care home which provides personal care to a maximum of 14 people.

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: The inspection was unannounced and took place on 9 April 2019.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about this service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us of, such as abuse, and we sought feedback from the local authority that commissioned the service. The provider sent us a provider information return prior to the inspection. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

At this inspection we spoke with the manager and three staff. We spoke to three people who used the service, two relatives and two health care professionals. We looked at three people's care records, including their initial assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at medication administration records (MARs) where staff were responsible for administering medicines. We also looked at a selection of documentation about the management and running of the service. This included quality assurance information, audits, recruitment information for two staff, training records, policies and procedures, complaints and staff rotas.

Updated 27 June 2019

About the service: Southfield House is a residential care home providing care and support to younger adults and adults with mental health conditions. The service was providing personal care to 14 people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: People who used the service, their relatives and health professionals gave positive feedback about the service. They told us they felt safe in the service and with staff.

People were supported by a consistent team of staff and were protected from avoidable harm and abuse by staff who could identify and report safeguarding concerns. People's medicines were administered as prescribed and this was closely monitored.

Staff understood people's needs and risks to their safety. Risk assessments guided staff on how to safely meet people's needs and were reviewed regularly. There was enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to perform their roles effectively. Recruitment processes were in place and followed.

Staff had developed meaningful, caring relationships with people. They supported people to maintain their dignity and independence and to have maximum choice and control of their lives. This included accessing activities in the community, going on holidays and days out. Staff supported people’s cultural and religious needs and did all they could to ensure the time they spent with their loved ones was special. It included relatives staying overnight at the service if they wished and joining them on holidays.

People were actively included in making decisions about their care and setting future goals. Care plans contained current and personalised information that supported staff to provide person-centred care including end of life care plans which identified their wishes.

People were supported to access healthcare services in a timely manner.

Staff worked with professionals and responded to their advice, to ensure people's needs were met.

People told us the food was of good quality and they were included in developing weekly menus, so their personal tastes were catered for.

The manager was committed to providing a high-quality, person-centred service. They had created a caring and inclusive culture for people and staff. People told us they could talk to the management team about any concerns or complaints and were confident they would be listened to and have issues addressed promptly.

Staff told us they received regular supervision and appraisals and received appropriate training to meet the needs of the people they supported.

The manager used audits to monitor the quality and safety of the service. They listened to people's feedback and responded to issues and concerns to continually improve the service.

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

Rating at last inspection: Good (The last report was published 11 October 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule or sooner if we receive information of concern.