Southgarth Care Home

Updated 11 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.

Service and service type

Southgarth is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and 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

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service. This information included ‘notifications’ the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events, which the service is required to send us by law. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send to give us 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 judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who lived at the service and they told us about their life at Southgarth. We were also able to speak with seven relatives who were visiting their family member. We spent a period of time observing how people were looked after, how they spent their time and the interactions between them and the staff team. We spoke with seven members of staff and the registered manager. We were able to speak with two healthcare professionals who were visiting the service at the time of our inspection.

We looked at four people's care records, three staff recruitment files, training records, policies and procedures, complaints, audits and quality assurance reports.

Updated 11 January 2020

About the service

Southgarth Care Home is registered to provide personal care for up to 25 older people, including people who may be living with mild dementia. The home is a converted Victorian building, located 1.5 miles from the town centre of Exmouth. There are 21 bedrooms. Four of them were registered as shared bedrooms however only occupied by one person (maximum capacity therefore reduced to 21. Some bedrooms had ensuite facilities. At the time of the inspection, 20 people were in residence.

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

People were safe. This was because the staff team received safeguarding training and understood their responsibility to keep people safe. There was a process to be followed to report any safeguarding issues to the local authority and the staff team were aware of this. There were good risk managements in place to ensure people’s health and welfare was not compromised. The number of staff on duty for each shift was calculated based upon each person’s care and support needs. Pre-recruitment checks ensured new staff were recruited safely. Checks included written references and a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Medicines were well managed and administered by those staff who had been trained and were competent. People received their medicines as prescribed.

The service was effective. The assessment and care planning arrangements ensured each person’s care and support needs were met. Staff training had improved and was consistent. New staff completed an induction training programme. The registered manager had ensured all other staff completed the programme of mandatory training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. People were able to access the healthcare support they needed with the staff team making any arrangements as required. People received the food and drink they needed to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. Any preferences they had regarding food and drink were accommodated.

People were encouraged to retain as much choice and control of their daily lives and staff supported them in their best interests. The service was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

The service was caring. People were looked after by staff who were kind and friendly and listened to what they had to say. Since the registered manager took up post there had been a significant turnover in staff. Feedback we received from people and their relatives evidenced this had been positive for people because the staff team were now better. They received person-centred care and made their own decisions about their daily life. The staff team were fully aware of each person’s specific needs. People looked well cared for.

The service was responsive. Each person was involved in drawing up their care plan and having a say in how they wanted to be looked after. The plans were reviewed monthly and amended as and when needed. This meant any changes in care needs were accounted for and people continued to be looked after in the way they wanted. The service endeavoured to continue looking after people who became very ill or had end of life care needs. They achieved this working in conjunction with family and healthcare professionals..

People were able to participate in a range of activities and were continually asked what they would like to do. There were no restrictions on visitors and where possible, people were able go out independently, or with staff support.

The service was well led. The registered manager provided good leadership for the staff team and had a plan of further improvements they planned to make to the service. Quality assurance systems and regular visits by the provider/support manager ensured the provider knew what was happening in the service. People were very much at the centre of all decision making in the home and their views and opinions were listened to and acted upon.

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 28 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based upon 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.