Eastleigh Care Homes - Minehead Limited

Updated 10 March 2023

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, one of whom was a specialist medicines inspector.

Service and service type

Eastleigh Care Homes – Minehead Limited 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. Eastleigh Care Homes – Minehead Limited 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. However, they were working in another home owned by the same provider and Eastleigh Care Homes – Minehead Limited was being managed by a registered manager from another of the providers locations. The manager had applied to us to transfer their registration.

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 worked with the service.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 11 people who lived at the home and 15 members of staff. This included managers, trained nurses, assistant practitioners, care staff and ancillary staff. The nominated individual was available throughout the inspection. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We received written feedback from 3 health and social care professionals and were able to speak with a further 5 professionals after the inspection.

We spent time observing care and support provided in communal areas and 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.

We looked at a number of records relating to the running of the home and people’s individual care. These included 2 staff recruitment files, a sample of medication administration files, 7 care and support plans and records relating to quality monitoring.

Updated 10 March 2023

About the service

Eastleigh Care Homes – Minehead Limited is a care home providing accommodation and personal and nursing care. It is registered to provide care to up to 69 people. Accommodation is provided in two buildings divided into different units. One unit provides nursing care to people living with dementia. One small unit cares for people with complex mental health needs and other areas of the home support people with general nursing and personal care needs.

At the time of our inspection there were 64 people using the service.

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

People felt safe at the home and with the staff who supported them. Throughout the inspection we saw pleasant and kind interactions between people and staff.

People’s medicines were generally managed safely, and they received them in the way prescribed for them. However, there were some medicines supply problems, which the managers were working with the supplying pharmacy and the GP surgery to improve.

People had their needs assessed before they moved to the home. We found that these assessments needed to be more comprehensive and have recommended that the provider reviews their preadmission process.

The dining experience and environment for people living with dementia would benefit from improvement to promote dignity and independence. The provider had already identified some of these issues and was taking action to address them.

People did not always have their specialist needs met because professionals and the staff at the home had not worked in partnership to support people.

Due to the large variety of needs and ages of people at the home some people felt their social needs were not always met. The provider told us they had employed an additional worker to help support people with meaningful occupation.

People were supported by adequate numbers of staff who had been safely recruited.

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.

Staff understood the principles of the mental capacity act and made decisions in people’s best interests where needed.

The provider had effective systems in place to identify shortfalls in the service and plan improvements. The providers own monitoring had highlighted areas for improvement, and they were working towards making changes to improve care provided to people.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. At the time of the inspection the home was providing care to a small number of people with a learning disability.

Right support

People lived in a large nursing home which did not specialise in the care of people with a learning disability. One person had one to one staffing at times to support them to pursue their interests and hobbies.

However, another person who was staying for a respite period had a lack of support to take part in activities which were appropriate to their needs.

There were limited opportunities for people to access their local community for leisure or education.

People’s physical healthcare needs were monitored by trained nurses and senior staff.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care from a friendly staff team.

People had not all had opportunities to discuss their aspirations and set goals.

Right Culture

People were supported by a manager and provider who worked hard to promote a culture where people were valued and respected as individuals.

The manager and provider were open and transparent and took action to make sure people were protected from avoidable harm.

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

Rating at last inspection and update.

The last rating for this service was Good (published 14 May 2021.)

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines and staff skills to provide good quality care to people with complex needs. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.

We found evidence that the provider had already identified these issues through their quality monitoring systems and was taking action to make improvements.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the effective and well led section of this full report.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Eastleigh Care Homes – Minehead Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.