• Care Home
  • Care home

Fernhill

Overall: Outstanding read more about inspection ratings

122 Ringwood Road, Longham, Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 9AW (01202) 651800

Provided and run by:
Colten Care (2009) Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 31 October 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

One inspector, one assistant inspector, a specialist nurse advisor and an expert by experience carried out this inspection. 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

Care home name 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 reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We also reviewed notifications we had been sent. Notifications are specific issues that registered people must tell us about.

During the inspection

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We met many of the people living in Fernhill and spoke with eight people in depth about the care they received. We spoke with eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the operations manager, registered manager, clinical lead, quality manager, administration staff, senior care workers and care workers. We also spoke with one visiting health professional.

We reviewed a range of records. These included eight people’s care records and medication 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 reviewed.

After the inspection

We sought and received feedback from three health and social care professionals.

We reviewed further information about positive achievements sent to us by the registered manager. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Overall inspection

Outstanding

Updated 31 October 2019

About the service

Fernhill is a residential care home providing personal care to 57 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 58 people. The building was split into four smaller units giving it a much homelier feel. People could move around freely. There were café areas, a ‘post office’, hairdressers and many smaller areas for people to engage in activities and private conversations. The service had an accessible garden.

The service had gone through some major upgrading. Some work was not yet completed including the design of a new roof garden and updating in several areas. Though this work was not yet completed we found no concerns of issues that effected the running of the service and in keeping people safe.

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

People said about the staff; “I observe that the staff are very well trained here, they know what they are doing” and “Everyone gets on well here, staff and the residents are happy.” Staff interacted with people at their pace, were unrushed and lots of positive interaction between each other. Staff in all roles were empowered to sit and chat to people and developed relationships that helped people feel confident to speak up. Relatives told us the service was, “The staff are very good with mum, they never rush her they have time for her” and “The staff are there for mum when she needs them, she is never rushed”. People and their relatives were supported in a variety of ways to have a say in how the service was run. A relative said; “There are regular residents and relatives’ meetings here”.

The leadership of the home was commented on as being outstanding and everyone we spoke with said they would highly recommend the home. Staff commented that it was the best place they had worked and wanted their loved ones to move in. One staff said a new member of staff had told them; “What they had learnt at Fernhill is that from what they see and what we do with people they wouldn’t be scared to get dementia if they were somewhere like here.”

People received exceptional care and support from a staff team who valued and celebrated individuality and diversity. Care was provided in a highly respectful manner which put people at the heart of all that was provided. Visitors commented on the exceptional care and support they received, as well as their loved ones.

The management and staff were skilled at supporting people's relatives to understand the changes in their family member's behaviours, wishes and emotions. The company employed ‘Admiral Nurses.’ These are specialist dementia care nurses who gave expert practical, clinical and emotional support to people and their families facing the challenges of dementia.

There was an outstanding comprehensive programme of often unique and personalised activities arranged every day that was very much based on people's interests and preferences. There were also group activities. A staff member said; “We ask people if they could have one wish we could answer for you what would you like us to do.” They went onto say how many wishes they had made come true for people.

Staff worked exceptionally well together to involve people, and their family members in the planning and delivery of care. People and relatives told us the staff had found suitable activities to support individual preferences. This included gardening and growing fruit and vegetables, shared events with local schools and involvement with volunteers from the local community.

The service encouraged people to become more mobile to increase their independence. This had resulted in one person ‘Pimping up the Zimmer Frame.’ Which meant they personalised their own Walking frame to add colour/designs which had been proven that people would use this more as it was personalised.

The service had a café, post office and sweet shop. People could go to the café area at any time to enjoy a drink and snack as a change of scenery or with visiting family and friends. People could access the post office to send letters or cards and buy ‘old fashioned’ sweets from the sweet shop.

Staff were creative in how they engaged people and prevented people feeling isolated. People and their relatives were supported with end of life care in a sensitive and individual way.

People and their relatives experienced a positive and inclusive approach to care and encouraged to give their feedback to help improve the service. The staff worked with outside professionals and communities to improve people’s health and social wellbeing. The registered manager and staff team all had a very good understanding of their roles and were empowered to make suggestions to keep improving the care.

People were supported to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately.

People told us they felt safe and secure and well cared for. People were safe because the service had good systems for monitoring risk and staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and how to keep them safe. People and relatives told us there was enough staff on duty to meet their needs and they did not need to wait when they called for support. People were supported to take their medicines safely.

People told us the food was ‘Good’ and ‘Lovely’ and they had plenty of choice. People and relatives they told us they were involved in planning their care and assessing their needs. People and relatives told us they could choose the décor and personalise their rooms. 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.

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

Rating at last

The last rating for this service was Good (published 1 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.