St Barnabas Southwold

Updated 11 February 2020

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

A registered manager was in post. The registered manager 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the home since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the home. 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 their service, what the service does well, and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made our judgements in the report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We observed the care and support provided and the interaction between people and staff throughout our inspection. We spoke with six people who used the service, four relatives, one visitor and one visiting professional about their experience of the care provided.

We spoke with the register manager, team leader and six members of staff from the care, maintenance and housekeeping teams.

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

After the inspection

We received information requested as part of the inspection and electronic feedback from one member of staff, two professionals involved with the home and one visitor about the care provided.

Updated 11 February 2020

About the service

St Barnabas Southwold is a registered care home that provides personal care to up to 14 people. At the time of the inspection there were 14 people living in the home. Most of these people were older adults with needs associated with physical disability, dementia or long-term conditions.

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

People were consistently treated with kindness and compassion by the staff and had their privacy and dignity respected. People and their relatives described positive relationships with the staff and management team. People were encouraged and enabled to pursue their hobbies and participate in activities of their choice. There was a welcoming atmosphere in the home.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Staff were aware of risks to people’s safety and knew how to respond appropriately through safeguarding processes. People had access to healthcare services and appropriate referrals were made when their needs changed.

Staff deployment and organisation across the home was effectively managed. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and enjoyed their job, the training was relevant to meet people’s needs and they were encouraged to develop professionally. The home was clean and hygienic throughout and safe management of medicines was in place.

Feedback was welcomed, valued and acted on. People, relatives and professionals expressed confidence they could raise issues or concerns with any member of staff or the management team and that these would be addressed.

The registered manager was held in high regard and there was visible leadership in the home. Quality assurance and risk management systems to independently identify issues or to improve the service were in place which supported effective governance and oversight arrangements.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 03 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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