Poets Mews Care Home

Updated 8 December 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide 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:

The inspection was carried out by three inspectors, and two Expert's by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

Poets Mews 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 did not currently have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A new manager had just been recruited. The provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The provider had put in place two managers and the area manager to manage the service until the new manager was fully in post.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Before our inspection, we reviewed all the information we held about this service. This included notifications the provider is required by law to send us about events that happen within the service.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During our inspection

We spoke with nine people receiving a service and 11 relatives. We met one of the acting managers and the area manager. We spoke by online video interview with 5 staff.

Records we looked at included five care plans, four staff files and a range of documents relating to medicines, accidents, incidents and complaints, satisfaction surveys completed by people and their relatives and quality assurance reports.

After the inspection we continued to seek clarification from the area manager to validate evidence found.

Updated 8 December 2021

Poets Mews Care Home is a care home that provides personal care and accommodation for up to 83 older adults with dementia and or mental health needs. There were 39 people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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

People were currently supported by enough staff, although there had been pressure on the team following staff turnover and recruitment challenges in the region. Some relatives told us there were not enough staff to consistently meet all their family member’s needs. However, we found that the provider had taken robust action to address these concerns. A staffing recruitment and retention plan was in place. This included the use of regular agency staff to ensure people’s needs continued to be met consistently. The provider was in the process of recruiting new staff. They had implemented a plan to recruit and retain staff. The provider had also moved other staff from other homes to work at Poets Mews.

People were supported to receive medicines on time. We were assured by the infection, prevention and control measures in place. People felt safe in the home and risks they may experience were fully assessed.

Staff were seen to be kind, considerate and polite to people they supported. Relationships between staff and people were positive. People's needs were identified, and care and support delivered in ways that met their needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff helped ensure this was in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. There were policies and systems in the home to support this.

Staff told us they felt supported by the current management team. The staff also said the past few months had been challenging due to staffing shortages. Staff were being supported and trained to be competent to provide safe and effective care.

A new manager had recently been recruited. Until they were able to fully take up their post, the area manager and two acting managers from other services were managing the home.

Quality checking systems were in place that were getting results to drive up quality and safety. The area manager and acting manager had already identified the shortfalls in the service and were following an in depth action plan.

Rating at last inspection

This was the first comprehensive inspection of the service since it was registered with us on 04 September 2019. We carried out focused inspections of the service on 14 July 2020 and 26 November 2021 where we looked at the safe and well led domains.

Why we inspected

The inspection was undertaken to provide a rating for the service.

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.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Poets Mews Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.