Archived: South Hill Road

Updated 7 April 2018

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 7 March 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location was a service for people who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and one expert by experience. An expert by experience is someone who has an expertise in this area.

Before the inspection, we had received a completed Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the PIR and other information we held about the service as part of our inspection. This included the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are reports of changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) within required timescales.

We spoke with three people who used the service. We looked at two care plans and three staff files. We looked at how medicines were managed. We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and two support workers. We spoke with one relative over the telephone. We also looked at other records that supported the running of the service.

Updated 7 April 2018

This inspection took place on 7 March 2018 and was announced.

South Hill Road 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. South Hill Road accommodated four people at the time of the inspection.

The service was last inspected on January 2016 and the rating for this inspection was Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Records were personalised, up to date and accurately reflected people's care and support needs. They provided staff with detailed information to enable them to provide effective, person centred care that promoted people's independence. Risk assessments were in place and they accurately identified current risks to the person as well as ways for staff to minimise or appropriately manage those risks.

Medicines were administered and stored safely.

People were supported to access the support of health care professionals when needed. The provider had taken steps to minimise the risk of abuse because staff knew how to identify and report it.

There were enough staff available to provide individual care and support to each person. Staff upheld people's human rights and treated everyone with great respect and dignity. Robust recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work. Staff received effective training, supervision and a yearly appraisal.

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

People received a varied and nutritional diet and were provided with choice.

The interactions between people and staff showed that staff knew the people really well. Staff spoken with had a good knowledge of people's needs and spoke with genuine affection about the people they supported. The atmosphere at the home was homely and relaxed. It was clear that people felt relaxed and comfortable in the company of staff.

The management team were approachable and they and the staff team worked in collaboration with external agencies to provide good outcomes for people. The provider continuously sought to make improvements to the service people received. The provider had effective quality assurance processes that included checks of the quality and safety of the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.