Scotia Heights

Updated 11 January 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by two inspectors, a medicines inspector and an inspection manager.

Service and service type

Scotia Heights is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. However, we gave short notice from outside the home due to the risks associated with Covid-19. We needed to know of the Covid-19 status in the home and discuss the infection, prevention and control measures in place before we entered the home.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from Healthwatch, the local authority, safeguarding teams and other professionals who work with the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service. We spoke with 17 members of staff including care and nursing staff, housekeeping staff, team leaders, the regional operations manager, registered manager and deputy manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision of staff practice. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

After our inspection visit relatives were encouraged by the registered manager to contact us to give their feedback about the home and this feedback was used as part of our inspection.

We requested information from the registered manager so we could validate evidence found and look at staff training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 11 January 2022

About the service

Scotia Heights is a residential care home providing personal care and nursing care to 49 people at the time of the inspection. The service supports older people and younger adults who may have a mental health condition and physical disability.

Scotia Heights can support up to 60 people in six units across two floors. Each unit has its own communal dining and living areas with a kitchenette. A passenger lift gives people and staff access to all floors within the home.

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

Despite concerns being raised prior to our inspection, people were supported by sufficient staff to help them stay safe and meet their needs. Following an increased use of agency staff, more permanent staff had been recruited and were waiting to start working at the home, which will improve the consistency of care. Recruitment practices were safe and appropriate checks were completed on potential new staff to make sure they were suitable to work with people living in the home.

Overall, safe infection prevention and control procedures were followed and the registered manager addressed issues with staff's use of personal protective equipment (PPE) following our inspection. People and staff had access to COVID-19 testing and vaccination. All visitors were tested in line with government guidance.

Safeguarding systems were in place for staff to follow which protected people and kept them safe. Staff knew how to and were confident in reporting any concerns they may have about a person’s safety.

Care plans reflected how care should be provided to people to minimise any risks to them; they were regularly reviewed to adapt the level of support needed in response to people's often rapidly changing needs.

People were supported to take their medicines safely and when they needed them. New systems were in place which had been effective in helping to reduce the frequency of medicine errors which had been occurring.

The leadership, management and oversight of the home had improved since our previous inspection. The provider had a governance framework in place which was effectively identifying and addressing issues. There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement to improve standards at the home.

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 overall, with well-led rated as requires improvement (published 15 December 2020).

Why we inspected

We had received concerns in relation to a high volume of medicine errors and concerns about staffing levels. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well-led list sections of this full report.

The overall rating for the service has not changed. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Scotia Heights on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.