Background to this inspection
Updated
4 September 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
The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.
Service and service type
St Elmo Care 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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, activity coordinator, care staff and the cook.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at four 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 also reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and health and quality assurance records. We spoke with two health care professionals who regularly visit the service.
Updated
4 September 2019
About the service
St Elmo Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 23 people who may also be living with dementia. When we inspected there were 19 people living at the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe living at St Elmo Care Home and they were very much at the heart of the service. We received consistently positive feedback from people, their relatives and health care professionals about the care.
Relevant recruitment checks were conducted before staff started working at the service to make sure they were of good character and had the necessary skills. However, there were a couple of unexplained gaps in staff’s employment history.
Medicines administration records (MAR) generally confirmed people had received their medicines as prescribed. Records relating to the application of topical creams were not always completed fully and would benefit from containing additional information to support staff in understanding where and how much cream should be applied.
Risks to people and environmental risks has been assessed and planned for. Work was underway to improve the systems in place to assess and identify risks relating to the management of legionella within the service.
Staff working at St Elmo Care Home understood people’s needs and supported people in a personalised way. Care was provided respectfully and sensitively, considering people’s different needs.
Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse. There were enough staff to keep people safe.
Staff received frequent support and one to one sessions or supervision to discuss areas of development. They completed training and felt it supported them in their job role.
Staff had developed positive and caring relationships with people and their families. Staff were highly motivated and demonstrated a commitment to providing the best quality care to people in a compassionate way. People’s privacy and dignity was always maintained.
People received high quality end of life care by a team of staff that were passionate about providing quality care during people’s final days.
Regular audits of the service were carried out to assess and monitor the quality of the service. There were appropriate management arrangements in place and relatives were very positive about the management in the home.
People were supported with their nutritional needs when required. People received varied meals including a choice of fresh food and drinks. Staff were aware of people’s likes and dislikes
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.
St Elmo Care Home met the characteristics of Good in some areas and of Requires Improvement in one area. Overall, we have rated the service as Good.
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 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.