Archived: Hazelmere Nursing Home

Updated 20 April 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

The inspection took place on the 23 and 26 January 2015. This visit was unannounced and the inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Before our inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service. We considered information which had been shared with us by the Local Authority and looked at safeguarding alerts that had been made and notifications which had been submitted. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We also contacted the Local Authority and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to obtain their views about the care provided by the service. CCGs are clinically led groups that include all of the GP groups in their geographical area.

During the inspection, we spoke with nine people who lived at the service, six relatives, the registered manager, seven care staff, and the cook. We looked at all areas of the building, including people’s bedrooms, the kitchen, bathrooms and the lounge/dining room.

We reviewed the records of the home, which included quality assurance audits, staff training schedules and policies and procedures. We looked at seven care plans and the risk assessments included within these, along with other relevant documentation to support our findings. We also ‘pathway tracked’ people living at Hazelmere Nursing Home. This means we followed a person’s life and the provision of care through the home and obtained their views. It was an important part of our inspection, as it allowed us to capture information about a sample of people receiving care.

Updated 20 April 2015

The inspection took place on 23 & 26 January 2015.

Hazelmere Nursing Home is a care home with nursing located in Bexhill On Sea. It is registered to support a maximum of 23 people. The service provides personal care and support to people with nursing needs and increasing physical frailty, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and strokes. We were told that some people were also now living with a mild dementia type illness. There were 16 people living at Hazelmere Nursing Home during our inspection.

At the last inspection in June 2014, we identified concerns in relation to care records and audits, which were a breach of Regulation 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. An action plan was received from the provider and at this inspection we found that the required improvements had been made by the provider.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and shares the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law with the provider.

People spoke positively of the service and commented they felt safe. Our own observations and the records we looked at reflected the comments people had made.

Care plans and risk assessments included people’s assessed level of care needs, action for staff to follow and an outcome to be achieved. People’s medicines were stored safely and in line with legal regulations. People received their medicines on time and from an appropriately trained care staff member.

Staff received training on the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and they had a good understanding of the legal requirements of the Act and the implications for their practice.

Care plans contained information on people’s likes, dislikes and individual choice. Information was readily available on people’s life history and there was evidence that people and families were involved in the development and review of their care plans. Activities were available but were not always participated in by individual choice.

Everyone we spoke with was happy with the food provided and people were supported to eat and drink enough to meet their nutritional and hydration needs. The communal dining experience was available but not taken up by people, however during our inspection they told us they ate their meals where they wanted to.

Staff felt supported by management, said they were well trained and understood what was expected of them. There was sufficient day to day management cover to supervise care staff and care delivery. The current management staffing structure at the service provided consistent leadership and direction for staff. The registered manager carried out regular audits and monitored activity to assess the quality of the service and make improvements. For example, in the area of training and supervision of staff.

People we spoke with were very complimentary about the caring nature of the staff. People told us care staff were kind and compassionate. Staff interactions demonstrated they had built a good rapport with people.

Staff told us the people were important and they took their responsibility of caring very seriously. They had developed a culture within the service of a desire for all staff at all levels to continually improve. Areas of concern had been identified and changes made so that quality of care was not compromised.

Feedback was regularly sought from people, relatives and staff. Staff meetings were being held on a regular basis which enabled staff to be involved in decisions relating to the home. Resident meetings were not formally held but people were encouraged to share their views on a daily basis. Incidents and accidents were recorded and acted upon which had then prevented a reoccurrence.