Archived: Scholars Mews

Updated 26 October 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

This inspection took place on 28 September 2016, was unannounced and consisted of two inspectors, a specialist advisor and an expert by experience. The specialist advisor was an experienced nurse who specialised in dementia and end of life care. The expert by experience had experience of caring for a person who used this type of service.

We told the registered manager we would return on 30 September 2016 so we could speak with more staff, people and look at examples of records, checks and audits.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. We looked at information received from relatives and other agencies involved in people’s care. We spoke with the local authority, who did not provide us with any information that we were not already aware of. We also looked at the statutory notifications the registered manager had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law.

To help us understand people’s experiences of the service, we spent time during the inspection visit talking with people in the communal areas and in their own rooms. This was to see how people spent their time, how staff involved them, and how staff provided care and support to people when required. Some people living in the dementia unit were unable to communicate with us due to their health condition. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

During our inspection visit we spoke with 14 people who lived at Scholars Mews to get their experiences of what it was like living there, as well as five visiting relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, two regional managers, a director of care and quality and a hotel services manager. We spoke with nine care and senior care staff and one nurse (referred in the report as staff), a clinical lead nurse, two activity co-ordinators, two housekeepers and one maintenance staff.

We displayed a poster in the communal area of the home inviting feedback from people and relatives. Following this inspection visit, one relative contacted us to share their experiences of the service.

We looked at five people’s care records and other records including quality assurance checks, medicines and incident and accident records.

Updated 26 October 2016

The inspection took place on 28 September 2016 and was unannounced. We told the registered manager we would return on 30 September 2016 to complete the inspection visit.

Scholars Mews is a nursing home which provides care to older people including some people who are living with dementia. Scholars Mews is registered to provide care for up to 64 people. At the time of our inspection there were 33 people living at the home, however two people were in hospital.

This home was previously called Avon Court Care Home. When we inspected this home in November 2015, we rated the home as ‘requires improvement’. This was because staff and people lacked confidence in the management of the service and people were not always supported in line with their care plan, and to to pursue their hobbies and interests. At this inspection we looked to see if the provider had responded to make the required improvements.

The home is required to have a registered manager. 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. At the time of this inspection the home had a registered manager in post.

People enjoyed living at Scholars Mews and they considered it their home. People received care that enabled them to live their lives as they wished and people were supported to remain as independent as possible. People were supported to make their own decisions and care was given in partnership with their wishes.

Care plans contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the individual care people required. However the clinical lead, registered manager and regional managers acknowledged some care plans required improvements and this was being addressed. People’s care and support was provided by a consistent staff team, although the provider’s staff team was supported by agency staff. Efforts were made to keep existing agency staff to support continuity of care. The staff team were knowledgeable and knew people well.

People were encouraged and supported by a caring staff team. People told us they felt safe living at Scholars Mews and staff knew how to keep people safe from the risk of abuse. Staff and the registered manager understood what actions to take if they had any concerns for people's wellbeing or safety.

Staff received training to meet people’s needs, and effectively used their skills and knowledge to support people and develop trusting relationships.

People were supported to pursue various hobbies and leisure activities which enabled them to strengthen and build relationships. Potential risks were considered positively so that people did things they enjoyed and kept in touch with those people who were important to them. Relatives told us they were able to visit whenever they wanted to, without restriction.

People had meals and drinks that met their individual requirements and people said they enjoyed the food choices provided.

People told us they could raise concerns or complaints if they needed to because the registered manager and staff were available and approachable.

The registered manager had quality monitoring processes which included audits and checks on medicines management, care records and accidents and incidents. The provider completed additional audits and checks to satisfy themselves improvements were being made.