About the service Gorselands Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 39 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 39 people.
Gorselands Nursing Home accommodates 39 people in one adapted building. The property has additional activity and office space in log cabins in the extensive grounds.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Medicines were safely administered. Available audits were unclear; however, we saw that registered nurses would reconcile stock and ensure that documentation was completed. A new medicines audit had been introduced and would be completed from August onwards. Topical medicines were not well recorded, and we have made a recommendation about this in our report.
There were limited records available to indicate how safeguarding concerns and accidents and incidents had been dealt with. New documentation had recently been added and there was now a clear process to deal with concerns.
Improvements were immediately made to the premises when we identified concerns. Premises safety checks were current and thorough and additional new, more detailed checks had been set up for wheelchairs, walking aids and other equipment.
Staff were safely recruited. Some staff records lacked a full employment history however these were obtained by the manager before we finished our inspection. Staff told us there were sufficient staff.
A new infection control champion had been identified and had begun to complete audits of hand washing. We saw that some staff wore wrist watches and there was a communal nail brush in the staff bathroom. We have made a recommendation about infection control.
New audits of accidents, incidents and falls had been completed in July 2019 and were accompanied by thorough incident reports.
An electronic care record was in place which generated risk assessments as people’s needs were added to the system. Care plans had been personalised however some significant information was missing. We have made a recommendation about care plans.
Staff had not received regular planned supervisions, these had been on an ad hoc basis. A new supervision arrangement was in place and some responsibilities delegated to registered nurses and senior care staff.
Training had been reviewed and a new provider would be used for online training. Additional face to face training had been identified.
People were generally very happy with the food provided and meals were prepared according to people’s needs and wishes. One relative was unhappy with food provision, so this would be discussed at the next residents and relatives meeting.
Staff worked with health care professionals to maintain people’s health and well-being, and care plans reflected people’s specific requirements.
The premises were a converted country house in a large garden. The grounds were monitored by CCTV and a keypad entry system was being added to secure the building.
Décor was plain and lacked dementia friendly signage.
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.
Care was person centred and reflected people’s diverse needs. People felt cared for and we saw appropriate, caring interactions.
When possible, people were included in care planning and there had been a resident and relatives meeting introduced.
Staff were respectful of people and told us how they maintained people’s dignity when delivering care.
Confidential information was securely stored.
People's needs were assessed before admission into the home and information was gathered about life histories to enable staff to have relevant conversations with them.
Communications needs were identified and met, and consideration was given as to how people liked to receive information.
An activities coordinator and a well-being coordinator supported people with activities and there were regular trips out using the services minibus.
There was a complaints procedure and recent complaints had been dealt with accordingly.
There was no one receiving end of life care when we inspected. The service had discussed this with some people and some care records showed end of life plans.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 6 January 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.