Sable Cottage Nursing Home

Updated 23 January 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Sable Cottage Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service and they had no concerns to report. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the last Health Watch report following their visit in December 2018 which was positive . Health watch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service, three relatives and two visiting professionals. We also had discussions with five staff and the registered manager.

We reviewed a sample of records relating to people living at the service such as care plans, risk assessments, daily records and medication administration. We also reviewed records kept regarding staff, training, recruitment and the management of the service.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with twp professional who regularly visited the service.

Updated 23 January 2020

About the service

Sable Cottage is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 32 adults at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 39 people.

Sable Cottage accommodates up to 39 people in one building over three floors. The top floor of the building is specialising in providing care to people living with dementia.

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

People were supported by staff that were caring, kind and treated them with dignity and respect. Sable Cottage Nursing Home provided a friendly and homely environment for people and visitors.

Staff knew about people's life history and their personal circumstances. Care plans were detailed and up to date about people's individual needs and preferences. People were encouraged to socialise with each other and some were supported to access the community.

People and relatives said the service was safe. Staff demonstrated an awareness of each person's safety and how to minimise risks for them.

There was an ongoing programme to improve the building and the general environment in which people lived. We made a recommendation that this was reviewed to ensure that the prevention and control of infection was not compromised.

People's concerns were listened and responded to. Accidents, incidents and complaints were used as opportunities to learn and improve the service.

People were supported by staff with the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Staff had regular training and felt confident in their role. There was no clinical support available to nursing staff and so we made a recommendation to the registered provider regarding this. Staff worked in partnership with local health and social care professionals to keep people healthy.

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.

The service was well led. People, relatives and professionals gave us positive feedback about the quality of care. They said the registered manager was approachable, organised, and acted on feedback. Quality monitoring systems included questionnaires, audits, observation of staff practice and checks of the environment. There were improvement plans developed in response to findings.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 18 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.