Seahorses

Updated 26 February 2024

Seahorses is a care home which supports older people and people living with dementia. We carried out an on-site visit on the 6th March and reviewed documents off-site using our new regulatory approach. This was a responsive assessment in response to concerns raised to us relating to the management of people’s risks, staffing levels, oversight, and engagement with people. Systems and processes were not always in place to keep people safe. There was a lack of understanding and oversight of people’s risks, such as pressure area management and choking. Staff were not always recruited safely. Staffing levels had improved however staff did not always have the training to support people safely. Assessments of people’s capacity and best interest decisions were not always carried out to decide whether people could be restricted in any way. Audits were not always effective in identifying concerns relating to the management of the service. There was a lack of management oversight in place and systems and processes were not always in place to ensure the service ran safely. Despite this, people and their relatives were happy with the way the service was ran and had no concerns.

Updated 26 February 2024

While the people we spoke to expressed that they were generally happy with their care, our assessment found elements of care did not meet the expected standards. People and their families told us that people felt safe, and described staff as kind and caring. One person told us: “The carers are lovely, they look after me so well as they do everybody.” People told us staff were available when they needed them. People and their relatives spoke positively about the management team. We observed staff interacting with people well; however, found people were not always repositioned regularly to reduce people’s risks of pressure areas. Monitoring sheets were not always completed to show that people received adequate pressure area care. We made a safeguarding referral during our assessment, as we felt people were at risk of significant harm from pressure damage.