- Care home
Sterling House
Report from 29 August 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 24 September to 07 October 2024. We found the service had improved since our last inspection and is now rated requires improvement. However, further improvements were needed and the service remains in breach of one legal regulation relating to governance. Whilst the provider had introduced a system to monitor, assess and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the service, this had not been fully effective at rectifying all shortfalls. We found there had been undue delay in managing some safety concerns including in relation to the environment and safeguarding, which had placed the people who used the service at risk. The provider had not acted, in a timely manner, upon the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and had not consistently shared risk information with other stakeholders. The provider’s quality monitoring system needed further development and embedding for it to be fully effective. However, we saw that the provider had made widespread improvements across the service. We saw that person-centred care was delivered and that people’s needs were met. Improvements had been made to the environment which we found to be clean, and well-maintained. People received their medicines as prescribed and the service worked closely with health professionals to maintain people’s health and wellbeing. People, and their relatives, had been included in making decisions about their care and participated in regular reviews. Whilst formal feedback systems were yet to be embedded, the people who used the service were consulted on an individual basis, as were their relatives. This service has been in Special Measures since May 2023. The provider demonstrated improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures. However, we have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
People told us they were happy living at Sterling House and that their needs were met by staff who were kind and caring towards them. They told us they liked the home environment and that they felt safe. Some of the relatives we spoke with felt the quality of care their family member received depended on which staff member attended to them, and this was confirmed by our observations during the site visit. They told us there had been lots of staff changes and that this had had a negative impact on the service. However, relatives told us this was improving and that they found most of the staff to be kind, communicative and responsive to their family members; they were confident the improvements would continue. Relatives told us they were included in their family member’s care and that regular reviews took place. They told us the service called them promptly when there were any incidents or concerns and that they felt their family members were safe living at Sterling House. However, some relatives felt there was not enough stimulation for their family members or support with their interests and hobbies and our observations confirmed this. Additionally, relatives were concerned that the quality and individualised care their family members currently received would deteriorate once more people moved into Sterling House, particularly in relation to the small communal areas. Our observations supported those concerns.