St Peter's Care Home

Updated 8 December 2021

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.

Service and service type

St Peter’s Care Home 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three relatives who were visiting, eight members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, care workers, the cleaner and the administrator. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 8 December 2021

About the service

St Peter's Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 18 older people and people living with dementia. The service accommodates people over four floors in one adapted building with a lift. The service can support up to 43 people.

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

The quality of service people received had improved since our last inspection. People told us that they felt safe and they received the care and support that they needed.

Management of the service had improved significantly. Since the last inspection a new manager had been appointed and had since registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC). The registered manager had oversight and scrutiny of the service and was receiving support from the provider and an external consultancy agency. People, their relatives and staff spoke highly of the registered manager. They were described as ‘getting everything sorted out’ and ‘approachable’. The registered manager told us they had worked hard to address the breaches and shortfalls identified at the last inspection. They had worked through a comprehensive action plan.

People were protected from the risk of avoidable harm. When concerns were identified about people's safety, information was shared with appropriate stakeholders so investigations could be conducted.

Risk to people health and safety where identified. The registered manager had ensured all risks associated with people and the service had been assessed. However, some guidance on what action to take if the risk occurred was not consistently recorded. Staff did know what action to take. People were supported with their health needs. The registered manager had oversight of incidents and accidents and lessons had been learnt when things went wrong.

There was a clear vision and open culture. A governance framework was in place which covered all aspects of the service and the care delivered. Numerous quality assurance audits had been completed. When shortfalls had been identified, plans were in place to continue with the improvements. We will check that improvements have continued and sustained at the next inspection. People, relatives and staff were engaged in the service. Their views were listened to and acted on.

The management of medicines had improved. Medicines were stored safely and people received their prescribed medicines when they needed them. The service worked in partnership with other professionals, and the community when able to do so.

The registered manager and staff promoted and encouraged person centred care to ensure people were treated as individuals. Staff knew how people preferred to receive their care and support. There were enough staff available to make sure people received the personal care and support that they needed. People's needs had been assessed and assessments had been used to plan staffing level.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were recruited safely. Safety checks had been completed before staff started working with people. People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and received person-centred care that promoted their dignity and independence. When there were any incidents and accidents these were recorded, and steps were taken to prevent any re-occurrence. Staff understood how to prevent infection and wore protective equipment when necessary.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Inadequate (published 24 June 2021). The service was rated Inadequate in the domains safe and well led and was placed in special measures. We took enforcement action and placed a restriction on the provider's registration so that they could not admit any people to the service without prior written consent from the CQC. We also required the provider to tell us how they had mitigated risks to people. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 24 June 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 13 May 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had taken action and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Inadequate to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for St Peter’s Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.