We carried out a review of the data available to us about Atlantis 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 Atlantis Care Home, you can give feedback on this service.
Atlantis Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 20 older people at the time of the inspection. The service supports people who may need support with their physical and mental health and may be living with a dementia. Atlantis Care Home is an adapted building in a rural area. At the time of the inspection there were 20 people living at the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they were happy with the care they received, and people said they felt safe living there. Comments from people included; “Just generally they have really looked after me and made me feel at home.” While a relative said; “They are absolutely fantastic, and I have not heard of anyone anywhere say anything but good words about the home.” People looked happy and comfortable with staff supporting them. Staff were caring and spent time chatting with people as they moved around the service.
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 were supported by staff who completed an induction, training and were supervised. Staff were recruited safely in sufficient numbers to ensure people’s needs were met. There was time for people to have social interaction and there was a designated activities staff member to assist people. Staff knew how to keep people safe from harm.
Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely, including fire safety and mental health training.
The environment was safe and there was equipment available to support staff in providing safe care and support. Health and safety checks of the environment and equipment were in place.
There were processes in place to prevent and control infection at the service including additional cleaning and safe visiting precautions.
People were supported to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately.
Records of people's care were individualised and reflected each person’s needs and preferences. Risks were identified, and staff had guidance to help them support people to reduce the risk of avoidable harm. People’s communication needs were identified, and where they wanted, people had end of life wishes explored and recorded.
People were involved in menu planning and staff encouraged them to eat a well-balanced diet and make healthy eating choices. Special diets were catered for. One person said; “I am a bit difficult to feed as I am a bit of a finicky eater, but they are used to what I like and they are very good.”
People were supported by a service that was well managed. Records were accessible and up to date. The management and staff knew people well and worked together to help ensure people received a good service.
Staff told us the registered manager was available and assisted them daily. They went onto say how they were approachable and listened when any concerns or ideas were raised. One staff member said; “They have been very supportive with staff, not just at work but personally as well.”
People and their families were provided with information about how to make a complaint and details of the complaint’s procedure were displayed at the service.
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
This service was re-registered with us on 27 January 2020 and this is the first inspection since their change in registration.
The last rating for the service under the previous registration was rated Good, published on 3 December 2019.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a change in registration at the service.
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.
There had been an outbreak of Covid-19 at the service. However, the service was now out of isolation. During the outbreak the registered manager had communicated with people, staff and families regularly to ensure everyone understood the measures put in place to help keep people safe.
The service had sufficient supplies of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and was available throughout the service. This included an emergency pack in case of any future shortages. Signage was in place throughout the service regarding the requirement for wearing PPE and included doffing and donning of PPE safely. Additional information was provided on what PPE needed to be worn when a person was assessed as being at higher risk of infection.
Staff came to work wearing their own clothes then changed into their uniforms in a designated room. This helped to reduce the risk of infection because staff did not enter areas of the home, where people lived, until wearing appropriate PPE..
The registered manager and staff had worked closely with external healthcare professionals to enable people to have access to the appropriate health care and equipment.
The service was clean and hygienic. Additional cleaning schedules and audits where in place to ensure all infection control risks were minimised and people were kept safe. There were supplies of anti-bacterial wipes around the service to enable staff to clean surfaces and any areas, including bathrooms, they had used. This was in addition to the increased cleaning routines. There were posters around the service to prompt and remind staff about the infection control procedures in place. All high contact areas were cleaned regularly throughout the day and night staff also had a cleaning routine. Staff were required to sign to say when high touch point cleaning had been completed.
Procedures were in place regarding self-isolation for people and staff, if they showed symptoms of Covid-19, or who were admitted to the service from the community or other health care provision. The admission procedure had been updated and developed to reduce the risk of infection from Covid-19. Specific Covid-19 policies had also been developed to provide guidance for staff about how to respond to the pandemic and the outbreak. These policies were kept under continuous review as changes to government guidance was published.
Since the new Covid-19 restriction for visitors had been changed the service had developed new guidance. This included one designated visitor for each person living in the service. All visitors were required to make appointments and a designated room was made available for visitors and people living in the service. This room had a separate entrance for visitors, so they did not enter the home and had a clear perspex screen to further help to protect people. Friends and families were provided with the updated policy detailing the new restrictions. Where visiting was permitted inside the service for compassionate reasons, for example, for people receiving end of life care, suitable infection control procedures were in place. Visitors were screened for Covid-19 prior to entering the service. Visitors were required to wear PPE at all times.
People were supported to speak with their friends and family using IT and the telephone as necessary.
Appropriate testing procedures for Covid-19 had been implemented for all staff and people who used the service and followed national guidance regarding the frequency and type of testing. Arrangements had been made to enable people and staff to access the vaccine.
Infection control policies and procedures had been updated in line with the national guidance relating to Covid-19. Staff had completed online infection prevention and control and Covid-19 training. The registered manager had completed additional Covid-19 training and passed this training onto staff. Infection control competency checks were carried out by senior staff. The registered manager worked with care and domestic staff teams to ensure infection prevention and control measures were followed.
The registered manager had been well supported by the Human Resource manager within the service and from the registered provider. Agency staff were not used though the service did use some local authority staff during their outbreak, to ensure the service had sufficient staff on shift to support people. However, they were kept to a minimum as the regular staff changed shifts to cover and provide continuity of care.
The registered manager had completed risk assessments regarding the environment and risks to staff and people who used the service. The registered manager was aware of staff members who were at increased risk from Covid-19 and risk assessments had been completed to support higher risk staff.
The provider had a detailed contingency plan to manage any further outbreak of Covid-19.