Sutton Court

Sutton Court is a purpose-built residential care home providing accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care for up to 63 people. Nursing care is not provided at Sutton Court. At the time of our inspection there were 47 people using the service. The service provides support to older people, people with dementia, people with a sensory impairment or physical disability, and younger adults. Some people lived at the service permanently, and some people are short-term residents who stay there for rehabilitation. These short-term placements are part of an arrangement with the local NHS Trust designed to improve people’s mobility and independence so they can return home.

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

The service was exceptionally person-centred and responsive to people's individual needs. People’s individual and diverse needs were recognised throughout the assessment and care planning process. The staff team were very focussed on delivering person-centred care and were responsive to people’s changing needs. People were strongly encouraged to continue with their favourite activities and hobbies and supported to develop new ones if this was what they wanted. Care plans were personalised and people were involved in developing and reviewing their care with staff.

People were encouraged to do as much as they could themselves and to participate in the daily life of the home as much as they wanted to. People enjoyed the variety of in-house activities and trips out that were regularly available. People and relatives knew how to complain and felt confident any issues would be addressed. People were supported well at the end of life by staff who were trained to meet their needs.

People were safe and protected from the risk of abuse. People’s needs were assessed, and any risks associated with their personal care and environment documented. There were enough staff to keep people safe. Medicines were managed safely. The service was clean and risks from acquired health infections were minimised.

People's needs and choices were assessed in line with current legislation and guidance. Staff had training the provider deemed essential to meet people’s needs. People were supported to have a varied good quality diet. The environment was suitable for people's needs, and there were adaptations for people with mobility needs. People were supported by staff to access healthcare services when required. 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 and relatives spoke positively about the staff team and said they were cared for with kindness, respect, and dignity. People were supported to express their views about their personal care and daily lives and make their own decisions as far as possible. Staff respected people's right to confidentiality.

Sutton Court was well-led and had a positive, caring culture. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and felt well supported to provide personal care. The provider did regular checks and audits to ensure the quality of care was consistently good. Regular feedback was sought from people, relatives, and staff about the quality of the service and used to develop the quality of care further. Feedback from health and social care professionals was positive regarding the quality of care and commitment to partnership working to achieve good outcomes for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 5 June 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service sustained a serious injury. This incident was subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of falls, infection prevention and control, and pressure care management. This inspection examined those risks. This inspection was also prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the Safe section of this full report.

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.

People, staff and visitors were protected again the spread of COVID-19. The provider carried out regular testing and screening procedures to ensure visitors could safely visit.

The provider had designated areas for testing and accommodating visitors to ensure people were kept safe.

Staff were observed to be using personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves and masks in line with current guidance.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe and staff ensured that risks to their health and safety were reduced. We found that sufficient staff were deployed to safely meet people’s needs. Staff had received training to ensure they had the knowledge to protect people from the risk of avoidable harm or abuse, whilst providing care.

People were protected from the risk of an acquired health infection. The service employed dedicated cleaning staff to ensure the environment was clean and had appropriate policies and procedures to monitor and reduce the risk.

Systems were in place to support people to take their medicines safely. Staff received relevant training and felt well supported. People were asked for their consent to their care and appropriate steps were taken to support people who lacked capacity to make decisions.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain good health.

There were positive and caring relationships between people using the service and the staff who cared for them. Staff promoted people's right to make their own decisions about their care where possible and respected the choices they made. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were treated with dignity and respect by staff who understood the importance of this.

People received very person-centred and responsive care from staff who had an excellent understanding of their current support needs. Personalised care plans were in place, which provided detailed, up to date information about the care people required.

People knew how to make a complaint and there was a clear complaints procedure in place.

When people were at the end of their life the service had effective measures in place to support them and ensure their wishes and needs were met.

An open and transparent culture enabled people and staff to speak up if they wished to. The management team provided strong leadership and a clear direction to staff.

There were robust quality monitoring procedures in place. The management structure of the service was clear.

People's safety had been considered and risks had been reduced by the introduction of equipment or guidance.

Information was provided in a range of formats to support understanding. People were able to access spiritual support to meet their religious beliefs.

There was a registered manager at the home and the rating was displayed at the home and on their website. When required notifications had been completed to inform us of events and incidents, this helped us the monitor the action the provider had taken.

Rating at last inspection: Not previously rated under this registration

Why we inspected: This was the first inspection under this registration. inspection. At this inspection we found the service to be Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.