Abberton Manor Nursing Home

Updated 5 February 2021

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 18 January 2021 and was announced.

Updated 5 February 2021

About the service

Abberton Manor nursing home is registered to provide accommodation and care for up to 26 people in one adapted building, some of whom may be living with dementia. There were 19 people living at the service at the time of our inspection.

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

The service had a new manager and operations manager in post. Both were new to the company and had made progress in identifying and making improvements to the service. The governance framework, referred to as ‘The Creative Improvement Process’ (CIP) had identified some areas for improvement but needed to be imbedded to reflect how information was used to drive the required improvements.

Risks to people were assessed and managed. Technology was used to promote people’s safety; however further work was needed to ensure people with sensory needs had access to technology that was accessible and easy to use so that they received care and support in a timely way.

Care plans and supporting risk assessments were in place detailing people’s needs and the support they needed to stay safe, but some elements of their care were missing. For example, there was no plans to reflect people’s oral health needs or managing people’s diabetes. ‘Resident of the Day’ had been introduced to provide a more focused review of people’s care and support needs, to ensure these were up to date.

The premises is a listed building, and space is an issue. The service has shared rooms, one of which is four bedded. Before moving into shared room, the options were fully explored with people so that they made a genuine choice to share a room with three other people.

Systems were in place to manage people’s medicines safely and to reduce the risks associated with the spread of infection.

Sufficient numbers of staff were employed to meet people’s needs. The providers’ behaviour framework’, which included the vision and values of the company, was used to form the basis of the recruitment process. This ensured the right staff were recruited to meet the needs of the people using the service.

Staff received training that gave them the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out their roles and meet the specific needs of people using the service. They were kind and caring and had developed good relationships with people.

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 did supported this practice.

People had access food and drink based on their individual choice and preferences.

People had access to a wide range of indoor and community-based activities designed to meet their interests and promote their health. Abberton Manor is part of the local community. The manager was keen to generate new opportunities to benefit people using the service, staff and the local community with the aim of becoming a ‘Community Hub’.

People’s relatives told us end of life care was well managed at the service, by kind and compassionate staff.

Systems were in place to acknowledge and respond to complaints and people knew who to speak with if they had any concerns.

People’s communication needs had been assessed and were meeting the requirements of the Accessible Information Standards. This set of standards sets out the specific, approach for providers of health and social care to identify, record, share and meet the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.

Rating at last inspection The last rating for this service was Good (published 31 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

The overall rating for the service remains Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC 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.