Background to this inspection
Updated
5 March 2020
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. 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:
St Catherine’s is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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
Before this inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, which included correspondence we had received and any notifications submitted to us by the service. Statutory notifications are information the registered provider is legally required to send us about significant events that happen within the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. 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. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We contacted social care commissioners who help arrange and monitor the care of people living at St Catherine's. We also contacted Healthwatch Sheffield. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spent time observing the daily life in the service. We observed how staff interacted and supported people and spoke with nine people and three relatives. We spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, a nurse, a team leader, a care worker, the activities coordinator, the cook and an administrator. 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 reviewed a range of records. This included reviewing people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service including staff training and supervision. We looked around the building to check the service was safe and clean.
Updated
5 March 2020
About the service:
St Catherine's is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. The service has two separate buildings. The service can support up to 67 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. There were 48 people living at the service at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found:
There was a strong, visible person-centred culture. All the people, relatives and staff spoken with gave us positive feedback about the caring nature of the service, quality of the staff and thoughtful support they received.
People spoken with told us they felt safe. People had individual risk assessments in place so staff could identify and manage any risks appropriately.
Safeguarding procedures were robust and staff understood how to safeguard people. Systems were in place to make sure managers and staff learned from events such as incidents, concerns and investigations.
There were enough staff to ensure people’s care and support needs were met. Staff told us they had training to enable them to perform their roles and were able to improve and develop new skills. Staff felt supported and told us they received regular supervision. The provider completed appropriate pre-employment checks for new staff, to check they were suitable to work at the service.
Medicines were managed safely at the service. We saw infection control audits were undertaken which showed any issues were identified and acted upon.
People and relatives made positive comments about the quality of care provided at the service. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People made positive comments about the quality of food provided and told us their preferences and dietary needs were accommodated. Some people required their fluid intake to be monitored to minimise their risk of dehydration. Some people’s record had been completed appropriately and monitored. However, we found few people’s records had not been fully completed or sufficiently monitored. We have recommended the provider considers current guidance for the prevention of dehydration in older people.
Respect for privacy and dignity was at the heart of the service’s culture and values. People and staff felt respected and listened to. The service promoted people’s wellbeing by taking account of their needs including activities within the service and community.
Complaints were recorded and dealt with in line with organisational policy. There were planned and regular checks completed at the service to check the quality and safety of the service provided.
Staff spoken with made very positive comments about the staff team and registered manager.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 4 November 2017). There was also an inspection on 7 November 2018 however, the report following that inspection was withdrawn as there was an issue with some of the information that we gathered.
Why we inspected
This is a planned re-inspection because of the issue highlighted above.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.