Meera House Nursing Home

Updated 7 September 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspectors, a nurse specialist advisor and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Meera House Nursing Home is ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Meera House Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. A new home manager had been in post for 3 months and had submitted an application to register. We are currently assessing this application.

Notice of inspection

The first day of the inspection was unannounced and the second day was announced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 9 people who lived at the home, 6 family members, 1 visiting professional, 7 staff; including 2 care staff, 1 senior care staff, 1 nurse/clinical lead, 1 nurse and 2 kitchen assistants. We also spoke with the cook, the compliance manager, the human resources manager and the home manager.

We reviewed a range of care records and information related to the running of the service. These records included 7 people's care files, including medicines records and related documentation, 3 staff recruitment records, policies and procedures, and records of checks and audits of the service.

Updated 7 September 2023

About the service

Meera House Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 59 older people who may also live with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 48 people using the service.

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

Since the last inspection we found that improvements had been made. Care plans were personalised, there was an activities coordinator in place and the home had been decorated and new furniture purchased.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff understood and responded to people’s individual needs. Staff knew how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Care plans were personalised and included people’s specific medical conditions, so we were assured that people’s needs were being met by the service. Medicines were managed safely.

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 provider had ensured staff were in post to meet people’s care and support needs. Staff had received an induction at the commencement of their employment to ensure they had the required knowledge to meet people’s needs. The provider had a system in place to ensure training was refreshed annually or as required. Staff received regular supervision from the manager.

People’s relatives gave positive feedback about the support their family members received from staff. The provider had systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of the care and support provided to people. Policies and procedures reflecting current best practice were in place to underpin this. People’s views about their care were sought on a regular basis.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 12 November 2021) and there were breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns about the environment of the service, fire safety, cleanliness, staffing levels, and poor staff awareness of safeguarding. . As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Meera House Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.