We carried out a review of the data available to us about St John's Care Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about St John's Care Home, you can give feedback on this service.
St John’s Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 51 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The care home can accommodate up to 56 people in one adapted building.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs and staff had received appropriate training and support to ensure care was provided in line with best practice guidelines and legislation. The registered manager had ensured staff were safe to work with people living at the home. Staff were kind and caring and knew people and their needs well.
Care plans contained information about the risks to people while receiving care and where needed, equipment was in place to keep people safe. Medicines were safely managed. People were supported to eat safely and maintain a healthy weight.
Some care plans needed further information on how to tailor care to people’s individual needs and this had been identified as an action by the registered manager. However, staff’s knowledge of how people preferred to receive their care meant that the lack of recording did not impact on people. People received compassionate support at the end of their lives.
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.
The environment was pleasant and allowed people a choice of where to spend their time. The provider had plans in place to refurbish the upstairs area of the home to better support people living with dementia.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided. This included the monitoring of complaints and accidents and incidents as well as taking into account the views of people using the service. Where needed action was taken to improve the quality or care provided. The registered manager and staff worked collaboratively with other health and social care professionals to meet people’s needs.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 30 September 2016). At this inspection we found the provider had maintained the rating of good.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St John’s Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
St John’s Care Home can provide accommodation and personal care for 56 older people and people who live with dementia. There were 46 people living in the service at the time of our inspection. The accommodation is a two storey property with each floor being a self contained living area. There is a passenger lift giving step-free access around the accommodation and there is a walled garden with seats.
There was registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
Staff knew how to respond to any concerns that might arise so that people were kept safe from abuse. People had been helped to avoid the risk of accidents and medicines were managed safely. There were enough staff on duty and background checks had been completed before new staff were appointed.
Staff had received training and guidance and they knew how to support people in the right way including making sure that people were supported to keep their skin healthy. Although people had been assisted to eat and drink enough some aspects of the arrangements at meal times did not support people to enjoy their experience of dining. People had been supported to receive all of the healthcare assistance they needed.
Staff had ensured that people’s rights were respected by helping them to make decisions for themselves. The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how registered persons apply the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and to report on what we find. These safeguards protect people when they are not able to make decisions for themselves and it is necessary to deprive them of their liberty in order to keep them safe. In relation to this, the registered manager had taken the necessary steps to ensure that people only received lawful care that respected their rights.
People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff recognised people’s right to privacy, promoted their dignity and respected confidential information.
People had been consulted about the care they wanted to receive and they had been given all of the assistance they needed. This included people who could become distressed. Although people were helped to pursue their hobbies and interests some people wanted to be offered more opportunities to enjoy social activities. There was a system for resolving complaints.
Quality checks had been completed to ensure that people received the facilities and services they needed. Good team work was promoted and staff were supported to speak out if they had any concerns because the service was run in an open and inclusive way. People had benefited from staff acting upon good practice guidance.