Merstone House

Merstone House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to eight people. The service provides support to older people and younger adults with who have mental health diagnoses. At the time of our inspection there were eight people using the service.

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

People were supported safely by staff who knew them well. People were protected from the risk of abuse by staff who had received training about safeguarding and who understood how to report any concerns. Infection control procedures and measures were in place to protect the people from risks associated with COVID-19.

Staff had received medicine training and their competence was assessed to ensure they were following safe medicine practices. Staff were recruited safely, and pre-employment checks were completed to make sure they were of good character.

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 registered manager was accessible and approachable. The culture of the service was open and inclusive. People and staff felt supported by the leadership within the service. Quality monitoring and governance was effective, and people's views were used to make changes and improvements.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 14 March 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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

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.

Follow up

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

We found the following examples of good practice.

¿ When visitors arrived at Merstone House they completed a Covid - 19 Health questionnaire and their temperature was recorded to ensure their visit could take place safely in line with current guidance.

¿ People had been supported to maintain contact with people in their local community. This included writing letters to local people and attending social chat groups led by the NHS which aimed to help people better understand their mental health to work towards recovery and being well.

¿ Additional garden furniture had been purchased. That meant people could social distance to keep themselves and others safe during the pandemic.

¿ Staff had created and shared information about the pandemic with people in creative ways. This had supported people to manage their individual fears and levels of anxiety.

¿ The registered manager had been proactive and had created activities to make staff feel valued and appreciated. The senior leadership team had also implemented 'reason to smile Friday' which encouraged and shared positive news stories across the organisation.

¿ Staff supported people to access their community safely which had improved their well-being. For example, going shopping at quieter times of the day.

¿ Cleaning schedules had been increased and additional audits had been implemented to monitor cleanliness and staff compliance with the providers infection control policy.

Merstone House is registered to provide accommodation for up to eight adults with complex mental health. The adapted property is detached and provides three flats, and four bedrooms with en-suites. There is also a self-contained flat at the rear of the property. At the time of our visit there were seven people who were supported at Merstone House.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service provided by the registered manager and the staff at Merstone House was highly effective at supporting people to achieve their goals.

The service was praised by people they supported and by visiting professionals. People praised the ways in which the quality of their life had improved since they had moved to Merstone House. We were repeatedly told staff made a difference and promoted a good quality of life for people.

People’s care and support had been planned proactively and in partnership with them. People felt consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People supported by the service consistently told us staff were polite, reliable, caring and professional in their approach to their work.

The service worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure they followed good practice. The registered manager took a person-centred and holistic approach to meet the health needs of people who they supported. This had resulted in positive outcomes for people. Risk was actively and proactively managed to keep people safe from harm.

The registered provider and the registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. This enabled Merstone House to be monitored and improve areas that were identified through their quality monitoring processes.

There was a complaints procedure which was made available to people. We found any concerns raised had been resolved to a satisfactory conclusion and in a timely approach.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first planned inspection of the service since its registration with CQC on 09 May 2017.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned and scheduled inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme or if any issues or concerns are identified.