The inspection took place on 26 July 2016 and was unannounced. This meant the provider or staff did not know about our inspection visit.We previously inspected Park House Nursing Home on 3 January 2014, at which time the service was compliant with all regulatory standards inspected.
Park House Nursing Home is a residential nursing home in the Queensbury area of Bradford, providing accommodation and personal care and nursing care for up to 25 older people. There were 21 people using the service at the time of our inspection, 18 of whom were living with dementia.
The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like directors, 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.
There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to safely meet the needs of people who used the service and to maintain the premises. All areas of the building were clean and well maintained, including external areas.
Staff were trained in safeguarding and displayed a good knowledge of safeguarding principles and what they would do should they have any concerns.
People who used the service and their relatives expressed confidence in the ability of staff to protect people from harm.
Effective pre-employment checks of staff were in place, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, references and identity checks.
The storage, administration and disposal of medicines was safe and in line with guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Risk assessments took into account people’s individual needs and staff displayed a good knowledge of the risks people faced and how to reduce these risks.
People received the treatment they needed through prompt and regular liaison with GPs, nurses and specialists.
Mandatory staff training was regularly updated to ensure staff had a good working knowledge of people’s needs, whilst the Care Certificate modules were used to help refresh staff knowledge. Staff had received training in Fire training, Pressure Ulcer Prevention, Manual Handling, Mental Capacity Act, Continence Care, Equality and Diversity, Infection Control, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), Health and Safety, Dementia Care, Falls Awareness and Safeguarding
Staff received regular supervision and appraisal processes as well as regular team meetings.
We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA. Staff displayed a good understanding of capacity and consent and we found related assessments and decisions had been properly taken and the provider had followed the requirements in the DoLS.
The atmosphere at the home was calm and welcoming. People who used the service, relatives and external stakeholders told us staff were patient and dedicated and we observed staff interacting with people in this way. We received a range of unanimously positive feedback from relatives and external professionals about the caring attitudes of staff and how they delivered the culture and values of the service. The premise of treating people who used the service as staff would their own relatives was well evidenced and indicative of a caring service.
Person-centred care plans were in place and staff had ensured a comprehensive amount of information about each person was readily accessible. We saw regular reviews took place with the involvement of people and their family members.
Group activities took place regularly, such as trips away from the home and in-house entertainment. Likewise, one-to-one time was offered to people by the activities co-ordinator. There was an opportunity to improve the way group activities were planned – currently people’s life history documents were not consulted to ensure the activities planned met people’s preferences. Relatives and people who were able to communicate their preferences did however confirm they enjoyed the group activities.
People who used the service, relatives and an external professional we spoke with had confidence in the staff team, the registered manager and the owners. We found the culture to be person-centred and consistently focussed on ensuring people received a high quality of care in a calm and dignified fashion.