About the service Seaview House Nursing Home provides care for up to 20 people with needs associated with their mental health. There were 19 people living at the service at the time of our inspection. The accommodation at Seaview House Nursing Home is provided across three floors, with one communal lounge and separate dining room. The service is near all facilities including the sea front.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Safeguarding concerns had been raised in relation to staff not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). People were not safeguarded from harm as systems were not in place to protect them. The registered manager took immediate action to ensure the service complied with Government guidance following the inspection.
Infection prevention and control systems did not follow current good practice guidance in relation to COVID-19. All staff had not received the required training in infection control and COVID-19 as their knowledge and practice was inconsistent and required improvement.
Risk management and oversight of the service was not effective in ensuring everyone’s safety. Whilst, no one was harmed, decisions made, and actions taken by the provider had placed people and staff at risk of potential harm. Some policies and procedures, including for the management of infection control and COVID-19, were out-of-date and not used to inform practice.
People we spoke with told us they liked living at Seaview House Nursing Home. The staff were caring and knew them well.
Staff were safely recruited with checks undertaken to ensure they were safe to work with people. Induction and training took place to ensure staff had the skills to work with people safely. There was enough staff in the service with rotas being well managed to keep people safe.
Risk assessments and care plans for people had been completed and contained information relating to their needs, choices and wishes. These included risks to people’s health, wellbeing and COVID-19.
People’s medicines were being managed correctly by staff who were competent to administer them. People received their medicines at the right time and in the right way. Quality audits showed that the medicines system was being monitored and any improvements needed were put in place quickly.
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.
The service had a vision and strategy for providing person centred and inclusive care and support. Assurance systems had been developed to monitor the quality of the service people received.
The service worked in partnership with other services to provide joined up care; and staff worked well with people to engage and involve them in all aspects of their life.
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 17 September 2019).
Why we inspected
We undertook this targeted inspection on 15 April 2021 to follow up on specific concerns which we had received about the service. These were in relation to the risks to people and staff not wearing appropriate PPE and following best practice COVID-19 guidance in infection control procedures. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We inspected and found there was a concern with staff not wearing masks, infection control policy and procedure and lack of risk assessments for staff, so we widened the scope of the inspection to become a focused inspection which included the key questions of Safe and Well Led. We returned to inspect the service on 20 April 2021.
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 reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe and Well Led key questions in this report. The provider has started to take action to mitigate the risks found. We found no evidence during the inspection that people had come to harm from this concern.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Seaview House Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.