Sun Court Nursing Home

Updated 16 February 2024

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 3 inspectors.

Service and service type

Sun Court Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Sun Court Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 17 October 2023 and ended on 28 November 2023, when final feedback was given. We visited the location’s service on 17 October 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought information from the local authority.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 relatives, 4 people who lived in the service and observed care provided in the communal areas and staff giving people their medicines. We spoke with 7 members of staff including the registered manager, registered nurse, carers, domestic, kitchen assistant and maintenance staff.

We reviewed a range of records including 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of governance and maintenance records.

After the inspection

We spoke with 3 relatives and 7 members of staff including the registered manager. We also received feedback from 3 health care professionals who visited the service.

We reviewed further records after the inspection including 10 care records including medication records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 16 February 2024

About the service

Sun Court Nursing Home is a care home providing nursing care up to 29 people. The service provides support to older and younger people who may be living with dementia, a physical need or sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection there were 22 people using the service.

The care home accommodates people across 3 separate floors with a communal dining room and lounge on the ground floor.

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

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests to promote their independence in a person-centred way. The majority of people remained in their rooms without much interaction apart from care tasks. Activities and stimulation for people was limited.

There was a lack of provider oversight of the service and support for the registered manager. The governance systems were not effective at identifying issues and what actions were needed to rectify them. If there were actions identified, these were not followed up to ensure changes were made. This put people at risk of receiving unsafe or inappropriate care.

People’s care records contained contradictory details and were not always accurate or up to date with some assessments missing, especially in relation to how to support people who became distressed and agitated. This put people at risk of staff not having the correct information regarding the care people needed.

The provider had recently taken over the service. There had been staffing issues when they first took on the service. To help alleviate this they had recently employed staff from overseas. We were told by people and their relatives these staff were caring, however, they did not always have a good understanding of English and had poor communication due to this. This impacted on how they communicated with people, and we were not assured that their induction and the training had assessed their competence and given them the knowledge and skills required.

The provider had invested in new furniture, equipment and was in the process of redecorating and replacing the carpets.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 21 February 2023, and this was the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was requires improvement, published on 10 June 2022.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staff’s skills and experience, standard of care, food and management. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine these risks.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to assessing risk to the environment; staffing levels to meet all people's needs; staff having up to date knowledge, skills and experience to deliver effective care including medication; ensuring all people’s needs were assessed, and appropriate, consistent and accurate plans put in place so they received person centred support for all their needs; staff providing effective communication; requirements of the Mental Capacity Act; end of life planning; provider oversight, management and governance systems, and meeting nutrition and fluid requirements at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.