Archived: Mulberry Manor Care Home

Updated 20 March 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection was unannounced, which meant that the home’s management, staff and people using the service did not know the inspection was going to take place. The inspection visit was carried out over two days; 23 January 2015 and 28 January 2015. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector.

During the inspection we spoke with five staff, the home’s manager, a senior member of the provider’s management team, one relative of a person using the service, and three people who were using the service at the time of the inspection. We also checked the personal records of five of the 12 people who were using the service at the time of the inspection. We checked records relating to the management of the home, team meeting minutes, training records, medication records and records of quality and monitoring audits carried out by the home’s management team and members of the provider’s senior management team.

We observed care taking place in the home, and observed staff undertaking various activities, including handling medication, supporting people to eat and using specific pieces of equipment to support people’s mobility. In addition to this, we undertook a Short Observation Framework for Inspection (SOFI) SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We also contacted the local authority to gain their view of the service provided.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider told us they did not receive this request. They completed a PIR and sent this to CQC after the inspection. We also reviewed records we hold about the provider and the location, including notifications that the provider had submitted to us, as required by law, to tell us about certain incidents within the home.

Updated 20 March 2015

The inspection was unannounced, and was carried out over two days; 23 and 28 January 2015. The home was previously inspected in September 2014, where no breaches of legal requirements were identified.

Mulberry Manor is a 28 bed nursing home, providing care to older adults with a range of support and care needs. At the time of the inspection there were 12 people living at the home.

Mulberry Manor is located in Swinton, a small town in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. It is in its own grounds in a quiet, residential area, but close to public transport links.

At the time of the inspection, the service did not have a registered manager, although the home’s manager had submitted an application to become registered. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During the inspection people told us, or indicated, that they were satisfied with the home, and staff we spoke with and observed understood people’s needs and preferences well. Staff demonstrated that they ensured people made their own decisions and ensured people were offered choices.

We found that staff received a good level of training, and further training was scheduled to take place in the coming months. The home placed a great deal of emphasis on dignity, and some staff were designated as dementia champions and dignity champions.

Throughout the inspection we saw that staff showed people using the service a high degree of respect and took steps to maintain their privacy and dignity. We observed staff supporting people to eat, which they did discreetly and respectfully, ensuring that people had time to eat at their preferred pace.

The provider had taken appropriate steps to ensure that, where people lacked the mental capacity to make decisions about their care and welfare, the correct legal procedures were followed to protect the person’s rights.

The provider had effective systems in place to ensure people’s safety. This included staff’s knowledge about safeguarding, and up to date risk assessments.