Uplands Nursing Home

Updated 12 December 2020

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

We received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 17 November 2020 and was announced.

Updated 12 December 2020

About the service

Uplands Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 30 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 38 people. The home accommodates people within one large, extended and adapted home across the ground and first floors. Some rooms had en-suite facilities and there were also a small number of shared bedrooms.

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

Since the last inspection there had been some improvement to the provider’s governance systems to monitor the delivery and quality of the service provided for people. However, further improvement was required to make sure governance processes were embedded into staff working practices.

People were safe using the service. Staff knew how to protect people from risk of harm and reduce the risk of accidents and incidents. At the time of our site visit, we found there were enough suitably recruited staff on duty to meet people’s needs and to keep people safe. People were supported by staff who knew their needs well. Staff supported people with their medicines and this was done safely. Staff understood how to prevent and control the spread of infection.

People had been assessed before being accepted to the service to ensure the provider could meet their needs. Assessments addressed people's physical and health needs, their cultural and language needs, and what was important to them. Staff received training which helped them to deliver personalised care. People were happy with the choice of food available and where appropriate, received additional support with their dietary needs. The provider worked well with external health and social care professionals and people were supported to access these services to maintain their health.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service required some improvement to ensure the provider continued to support this practice.

Staff were knowledgeable about people’s care and support needs. People and relatives told us how friendly and caring the staff were. Staff enjoyed their work and got on well with the people they supported. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity.

Some of the people using the service at the time of the inspection could not always tell us about their experiences. However, whilst on site, we saw positive interactions between people and staff and people looked comfortable with the way they were supported. Relatives we spoke with gave us positive feedback on the service and were happy with the way the staff supported their family members to remain safe. Staff provided care to people in line with their preferences and choices. If people communicated non-verbally staff knew how to engage with them.

People were supported by staff who knew their preferences. Complaints made since the last inspection had been investigated and families knew who to contact if they had any concerns. Relatives and staff were happy with the way the service was being led and there was a culture amongst the staff team in providing person-centred care.

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 requires improvement (published 27 March 2019) and there was one breach of regulations.

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.