Harts House

Updated 7 September 2018

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 8 August 2018 and was unannounced. It was carried out by two inspectors.

Before our inspection we reviewed all the information we had about the service, including notifications sent to us informing us of events that occurred at the service. We also looked at the last inspection and spoke with the local authority commissioners. We also reviewed all the information we held on the service such as notifications. A notification is information about events that by law the registered persons should tell us about.

During our inspection we spoke with five people who used the service, three relatives, three members of care staff, one nurse, the training coordinator, the activities coordinator, the maintenance person, the deputy manager and the registered manager. We reviewed six people’s personal care records, five staff records, staff duty rotas, medicine administration records and other records relating to the management of the service such as meeting minutes, health and safety records, recruitment and training records.

Updated 7 September 2018

This inspection took place on 08 August 2018 and was unannounced. At our last inspection in July 2017, the service was overall rated as “Good” but the safe domain was rated as “Requires Improvement.” This was because we found that people’s medicines were not always managed safely. We asked the provider to take action to make improvements regarding medicines management. At this inspection, we found that the action has been completed and the service continued to be rated “Good”.

Harts House Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The service is registered to provide care for 61 older people some of which may have palliative care needs. On the day of our visit there were 53 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. Risks associated with people's care were identified, and there was sufficient guidance for staff about how to keep people safe.

People were supported with medicines administration by staff who had been trained to do so. The service worked in partnership with other health professionals to ensure people received effective care and support.

There were assessments undertaken and care plans developed to identify people’s health and support needs. Systems were in place to ensure staff were up to date about people’s needs and were aware of people’s preferences.

Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and sought people’s consent before providing any care and support. They were knowledgeable about people they supported.

Staff were supported through supervision and appraisals. They felt supported to carry out their roles and were in regular contact with the registered manager. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs and staff recruitment processes were robust.

People were able to make choices with regard to their daily lives such as what they would like to wear or to eat or whether they would like to join in any activities. Their privacy, dignity and independence were respected.

People, relatives and staff felt the registered manager was approachable and supportive and felt the service was managed well.

There were systems in place to manage, monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Survey results from people and their representatives were positive and any issues identified were acted upon. Regular audits were carried out to monitor the quality of the service and drive improvements.