Hebburn Manor

Hebburn Manor is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 60 people aged 65 and over, and adults under 65, including people living with dementia. At the time of inspection there were 51 people using the service.

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

Auditing and oversight arrangements had not identified and rectified areas that needed improvement, such as person-centred care planning and medicines administration recording. Records were not always accurate or legible.

There were occasions when there not enough staff to meet people’s needs promptly. Staff deployment at mealtimes was not well planned, meaning people had to wait for their meals.

People’s basic care needs were met by staff, who worked hard to respond to nurse calls and other requests for help.

Medicines were stored safely. Record keeping and oversight of medicines administration required improvement.

People felt safe and regularly saw their relatives. Some staff knew people and their needs extremely well. There was a reliance on agency staff, meaning some staff did not always know people’s needs well. The new manager had plans in place to reduce the use of agency staff.

Risks to people's health and safety were assessed and documented in care planning. Staff followed these plans to ensure people’s safety.

The provider had safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and systems in place. Staff understood these and how to identify potential signs of abuse.

Senior care staff worked well with external partners to keep people safe. There was mixed feedback from external professionals about how well staff communicated with them and sought and acted on advice.

The manager and regional manager had a clear vision for how they wanted to improve the service. They had begun to make progress against a comprehensive action plan. They were responsive to feedback.

The environment was clean and there had been significant refurbishment to improve it, particularly on the ground floor.

Staff were recruited safely. They received an initial induction and ongoing training and support.

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.

People’s nutritional needs were understood and acted on. Staff used nationally recognised tools to monitor risks associated with malnutrition.

Staff interacted patiently with people throughout the inspection.

The number and variety of activities had reduced in recent months due to unforeseen staff absence. The new manager had prioritised plans to increase the amount and variety of activities available. They also planned to make new community links and involve relatives more.

Staff felt they could approach the new manager with concerns or problems. External professionals who had interactions with the new manager provider positive feedback regarding their openness and proactive approach.

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 14 October 2021 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service, under the previous provider, was requires improvement, published on 1 December 2021.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see all key question sections of this full report.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about staff deployment at mealtimes and the provider's dependency levels.

We have made a recommendation about medicines auditing and oversight.

Follow up

We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.