• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: South Newton Hospital

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Warminster Road, South Newton, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 0QD (01722) 273265

Provided and run by:
Renovo South Newton Limited

All Inspections

6 June 2023

During a routine inspection

About the service

South Newton Hospital is run by Renovo South Newton Ltd and provides short-term accommodation for people requiring personal and nursing care. It is registered to provide these services to up to 31 people. The service is used by people leaving hospital who are unable to return immediately to their own homes. Some people use the service for a few days and return home when care and equipment have been arranged for them. Some people use the service for a few weeks and receive rehabilitation such as physiotherapy before returning home.

At the time of our inspection there were 12 people using the service in 2 units. The accommodation in each unit comprises individual en-suite rooms with shared lounges, kitchen and dining areas.

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

People were treated with kindness and respect. People were treated as individuals and partners in their care and rehabilitation. People described staff as caring and attentive. Staff and managers were focussed on providing people with the best possible service.

People used the service safely and were protected from harm. Risks to people were identified, recorded and managed. Premises were clean and equipment was checked regularly.

Medicines were stored, used, and recorded properly by trained staff. People’s medicines were reviewed regularly by a resident doctor.

People had their care needs assessed in hospital, and these assessments were reviewed by the provider before people arrived at the service. People were supported by staff who had the right training and experience.

People were supported to have the maximum choice and control of their care and rehabilitation. People’s nutritional and hydration needs were met, and people we spoke to enjoyed the quality and choice of meals offered.

People’s care records were detailed and focussed on their specific individual needs. People were encouraged to give their views about how any aspect of the service could be improved.

The registered manager was a visible and a supportive presence at the service and staff spoke highly of them and the wider management team. Auditing processes were in place and people and staff had opportunities to provide feedback and suggestions about the service. There was an open and positive culture which promoted high-quality care.

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

Rating at last inspection

The provider registered this service with us in March 2023 and this is the first inspection. Previously we inspected different services run by Renovo South Newton Ltd at South Newton Hospital. The last rating of those services was inadequate, (reports published on 16 March 2022 and 13 January 2023).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection because the provider had registered changes to its service, and because previous services registered at this location had been rated inadequate.

Follow up

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

26 October 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out this focused follow-up inspection on 26 October 2022.

We did not inspect all key questions as defined within our methodology but focused on those areas highlighted in the warning notice as requiring significant improvement following our comprehensive inspection in January 2022.

We inspected safe, effective, and well-led in relation to the issues in the warning notice.

As this was not a comprehensive inspection we did not rate the service, therefore our previous rating of inadequate remains.

The provider had achieved progress in addressing our concerns and we judged that the requirements on the warning notice had been met. We found:

• The service now met legal requirements relating to safe care and treatment, infection control, safeguarding and good governance.

• Patients and staff were no longer at increased risk of exposure to harm due to ineffective processes and procedures to assess the risk of preventing, detecting and controlling the spread of COVID-19. Leaders now regularly updated infection control procedures and regularly completed infection control audits.

• The service now had a named Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO) as required by The Controlled Drugs (Supervision of Management and Use) Regulations 2013. They had systems and processes to safely administer and record the use of medicines.

• Leaders now recognised safeguarding concerns and responded effectively and ensured staff were trained to the appropriate level.

• The service now operated improved governance systems to improve the quality of services. Staff now kept improved records of patients’ care and treatment. Records were now clear, up-to-date and easily available to all staff providing care.

• Incidents were now effectively investigated to reduce the risk of potential harm from similar or repeated incidents. Staff were now able to describe what lessons were learnt from the incidents they reported. They were now aware of any changes to practice to prevent incidents from happening again.

• Patients, those close to them and their representatives were now engaged with or involved in decision making to shape services and culture.

However:

Some policies were overdue for review.

5 and 13 January 2022

During a routine inspection

We inspected rehabilitation services at South Newton Hospital to respond to ongoing risks we were aware of in the service and because the location had not had a comprehensive inspection since the service was registered in January 2020.

We carried out this short notice announced comprehensive inspection of the five key questions on 5 and 13 January 2022.

We rated the service as inadequate because:

  • The service did not meet legal requirements relating to safe care and treatment, infection control, safeguarding and good governance.
  • Patients and staff were at increased risk of exposure to harm due to ineffective processes and procedures to assess the risk of preventing, detecting and controlling the spread of COVID-19. Leaders did not regularly update infection control policies and procedures or regularly complete infection control audits.
  • The service did not always use systems and processes to safely administer and record the use of medicines.
  • Leaders did not always recognise safeguarding concerns and respond effectively or ensure staff were trained to the appropriate level.
  • The service did not operate effective governance systems to improve the quality of services. Staff did not always keep accurate records of patients’ care and treatment. Records were not clear, up-to-date or easily available to all staff providing care.
  • Incidents were not always effectively investigated to reduce the risk of potential harm from similar or repeated incidents. Not all staff were able to describe what lessons were learnt from the incidents they reported. They were not always aware of any changes to practice to prevent incidents from happening again.
  • Patients, those close to them and their representatives are not actively engaged with or involved in decision making to shape services and culture.

However,

  • Staff were committed to supporting the individual needs of patients and patients were positive about the care they received.
  • The service was organised to meet the individual needs and preferences of patients.
  • The service had enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment.

13 October 2021

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an unannounced focused responsive inspection of the safe question in response to specific concerns.

We have not previously inspected this service.

We did not rate the service at this inspection.

Staff did not always complete and update risk assessments and care plans for patients to remove or minimise risks. Staff did not always identify and act upon patients at risk of deterioration.

Some patient records were not up to date or comprehensive, and there was little evidence of audit prior to the registration visit in September 2021. Some patients lacked individualised care plans. Patients with diabetes had no care plans for managing this condition and the service had no specific diabetes management policy.

Staff training records did not reflect the current workforce and did not contain details of specialist training undertaken by staff. Less than half of the current workforce had received supervision sessions or an appraisal.

Incidents were reported but there was no evidence of provider intervention to manage the potential of serious patient harm and the service did not always notify the Commission of certain incidents as defined as part of their legal duties.

However:

Staff spoke highly of some managers providing support above and beyond their role. Patient records were securely stored but were easily accessible to authorised staff.