We carried out a review of the data available to us about Seymour Court Nursing and 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 Seymour Court Nursing and Care Home, you can give feedback on this service.
We found the following examples of good practice.
Systems were in place to help prevent people, staff and visitors from catching and spreading infection.
Visitors entering the service had their temperature taken and were asked questions about their health to identify any signs of infection. There was clear signage in place about personal protective equipment (PPE) and reminding people to wash their hands.
The provider and team understood and were meeting the required shielding and social distancing rules. For example, people were spaced out in communal areas and markers in corridors helped people, staff and visitors stay two metres away from each other when walking around the service.
There was sufficient PPE such as aprons, gloves and masks. Staff were wearing this appropriately when we visited. Staff had undertaken training in putting on and taking off PPE and other Covid-19 related training.
People and staff were monitored closely for any signs or symptoms of Covid-19. People and staff were regularly tested. Staff knew what action they would take in the event any of the test results came back positive COVID-19.
Staff supported people's social and emotional wellbeing. Staff ensured that essential family visits were safe. People were also supported to maintain contact with family members and friends via phone, video calling and socially distanced out door visits.
The service was clean and hygienic. All areas in the service were thoroughly cleaned each day which included additional cleaning procedures for frequently touched areas.
The registered manager had robust plans in place detailing how to safely manage an outbreak of COVID-19 in the service, including zoning of rooms and cohorting staff.
Robust policies, procedures and guidance was in place which the registered manager and staff team had successfully implemented at the service. Infection control audits and checks were carried out.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.
Seymour Court Nursing and Care Home provides care to older people who require residential support with nursing. The service is registered with us to provide care for people who may be living with dementia, a physical disability and/or a sensory impairment. The care home accommodates 34 people in one adapted building. There were 31 people living at the service when we inspected.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were at the heart of the service, and staff were motivated to deliver exceptional care. Staff used their knowledge of people and their relatives to make them feel special and part of the home. Staff showed genuine warmth and love for people. People and relatives overwhelmingly told us how wonderfully kind and compassionate the staff were.
Respecting people’s diverse personalities was core to the values of the service. People were supported to maintain important relationships. The registered manager and staff acted as strong advocates for people to have their views heard and respected. People and relatives confirmed they were treated with respect and dignity.
People and relatives felt people were safe living in the service. People told us there were enough staff on duty to meet their needs. Some improvements were required with staff recruitment files and we have made a recommendation about this. Following the inspection, the provider confirmed the improvements had been made and new processes implemented.
People’s health care needs were monitored and referrals made to health care professionals when required. Medicines management was safe and followed best practice. Relatives told us people received their medicines as prescribed.
There was a strong emphasis on the importance of eating and drinking well. People told us they liked the food and were able to make choices about what they had to eat.
Staff were proud and motivated to work for the service. People, relatives and professionals were complimentary about the staff team and their skills and knowledge. Staff told us they had the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge further.
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.
People received personalised care from staff who understood how to support their physical and mental wellbeing in a holistic way. People were empowered to make choices and have as much control as possible. People were involved in planning their own care and making decisions about how their needs were met.
Staff were passionate about ensuring people were treated with love, care at the end of their life and that their wishes were respected.
People lived in a service which had a visible person-centred culture and where people were clearly at the heart of the service. The registered manager and clinical lead were both skilled and motivated, and worked successfully together to lead the service. People’s views were valued and acted upon to help ensure they received a service that was tailored to their needs.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 30 November 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
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.
Seymour Court provides care to older people who require residential support with nursing. The service is registered with us to provide care for 34 people who may be living with dementia, a physical disability and/or a sensory impairment. There were 32 people living at the service when we inspected.
Seymour Court 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.
People’s accommodation was within a converted building spread across three separate floors. There were some double rooms where people were supported to share with someone who was compatible to them. There was a family room for people to stay in should they be needing to be with a relative that was at their end of life.
A registered manager was employed to oversee the service locally. 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. They were supported in this role by a clinical lead and two care managers.
We found external area of the service had not been assessed in respect of security and keeping people safe from falls and trips. Also, not all aspects of people’s medicines were managed safely. These issues had not been identified by the provider’s own quality assurance processes. We raised these concerns with the service who began to take action to address them.
People told us they were safe and happy living at Seymour Court and were looked after by staff who were kind and treated them with respect, compassion and understanding. The provider, registered manager and staff were working towards a high level of improving the experience of people living at the service. All staff expressed a commitment to values of providing only good care and to continue to improve the service.
The service was moving towards specialising in end of life care. We saw compliments from family that demonstrated they were achieving good end of life care for people. An example of the feedback was, “I cannot fault the care the staff gave to my mum during the week she was [at Seymour Court]. Sadly, it was a short time for end of life care; nothing was too much trouble. All her children were able to stay with her and they also looked after us.”
People felt in control of their care. Their care was planned with them or their relative. A detailed personal history was taken to reflect the person; this was used to support people to have their desires met in life so they could pass away having achieved something they always wanted to. If this was not possible, the information was used to enable the person to die having their wishes and feelings met. No everyone was having the Accessible Information Standards applied to ensure they had their communication needs met. The Standard sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
People could see other health professionals as required. People had risk assessments in place so they could live safely at the service. These were clearly linked to people’s care plans and staff training to ensure care met people’s individual needs.
Staff knew how to keep people safe from harm and abuse. Staff were recruited safely and underwent training to ensure they were able to carry out their role effectively. Staff were trained to meet people’s specific needs. Staff promoted people’s rights to be involved in planning and consenting to their care. Where people were not able to consent to their care, staff followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This meant people’s human rights were upheld. Staff maintained safe infection control practices.
Activities were provided that reflected the needs of the individual. Group times were available but the time was mostly one to one. For people at their end of life, the importance of touch, the voice and ensuring the person could sense someone was there were taking place.
People were accepted for who they were regardless of identity, with every effort that everyone, regardless of their sexuality, faith, culture and ability, could end their days in an accepting, open culture where tolerance for all was practiced.
People’s complaints were taken very seriously and every effort made to ensure all concerns had been identified. Reflective practice was a central theme that demonstrated how the service aimed to learn from every event and emotional reaction to it. This meant the service was continually learning from events.
People, relatives and staff were involved in giving feedback on the service. They felt it was easy to approach the registered manager and/or provider. Everyone felt they were listened to and any contribution they made was taken seriously. Regular audits made sure aspects of the service were running well. Where issues were noted, action was taken to put this right.
We found a breach of the regulations. You can see the back of the full report to show what action we have told the provider to take.