Background to this inspection
Updated
1 May 2020
The inspection
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.
Inspection team:
One inspector conducted the inspection.
Service and service type:
Hill House is a care home which is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 20 people. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
This inspection was unannounced and took place on 19 February 2020.
What we did:
Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We gathered feedback from one professional. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection, we spoke with seven people using the service, two relatives. two deputy managers, the registered manager and two staff. We looked at records in relation to people who used the service including three care plans and medicines records. We looked at records relating to training and systems for monitoring quality.
After the inspection, we continued to seek information from the service to ensure action was taken regarding risk identified during the inspection.
Updated
1 May 2020
About the service
Hill House is a residential care home providing accommodation for persons who personal care for up to 20 people aged 65 and over. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 14 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Environmental risks within the service had not always been identified or action taken to reduce the risk. There were risks to people from poor infection control practices. There were enough competent staff to support people safely according to their needs and preferences. Medicines were mostly managed safely. People received care from staff who understood how to recognise and report issues of concern.
There were limited opportunities for people to participate in activities to ensure they were stimulated. Care plans were detailed and provided good information for staff to follow to support people effectively including the support people wanted at the end of their life. People knew how to raise a complaint and their views were listened to and investigated.
Staff received training and support to carry out their roles and responsibilities. People enjoyed a balanced and varied diet. Staff worked with external professionals to support people’s health and wellbeing. 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 supported this practice.
People and their relatives were complimentary about the care provided at Hill House and the staff team were kind and caring. Staff knew people well and supported people with dignity and respect. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible.
We made a recommendation regarding equality and diversity.
People, relatives and staff were positive about how the service was managed. Some concerns raised at the previous inspection had not been addressed. Audits were completed, however these required further improvement to ensure they were effective in identifying issues across the service. The management team were proactive in promptly addressing the issues found at inspection.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Good (published 19 August 2017).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We have found evidence the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well led sections of the full report.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor all intelligence received about the service to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.