Anita Stone Court

Updated 29 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

One inspector, one assistant inspector, one expert by experience and one specialist advisor carried out this inspection on the 18 April 2019. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert’s area of expertise was older people and dementia. The specialist advisor was a nursing professional.

Service and service type:

Anita Stone is a care home that provides nursing and personal care to people some of whom have a

disability and some of whom may be living with dementia. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

Inspection was unannounced and took place on the 18 April 2019.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered with us. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as allegations of abuse and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the Provider Information Return (PIR) we require providers to send this to us at least once annually, to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We spoke with five people, eight visitors and relatives, 12 staff that included domestic, catering, care and senior staff, one healthcare professional, the clinical lead and the head of care quality. We used this information to form part of our judgement. The registered manager was not available at the time of the inspection.

We sampled seven people’s care and medication records to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included three recruitment files to check suitable staff members were safely recruited and received appropriate training. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures, to ensure people received a good quality service. Details are in the ‘Key Questions’ below.

Updated 29 May 2019

About the service:

Anita Stone is a care home that provides personal care for up to 33 people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 33 people were living there. The home was established over three floors with communal areas that included a dining area, two lounge spaces and a large garden.

People’s experience of using this service:

At the last inspection, we rated the questions of is the service effective and well-led as ‘Requires Improvement.’ At this inspection, we found there had been improvements made to now rate the service as an overall ‘Good.’ Although the question, is the service effective will remain ‘Requires Improvement.’

People were assisted to have enough to eat and drink and told us the food was good. Although there was some improvement to be made to the dietary needs of people living with diabetes.

Since the last inspection, the registered manager and the head of care quality had started to implement new processes to bring a clear and consistent oversight of operations.

The provider’s governance systems to monitor and check the quality of the service provided for people were consistently effective.

People and relatives told us they felt the service was safe and there were enough numbers of staff to support people. New staff members had completed their induction training.

Risk assessments and care plans were up to date and reflective of people's support needs.

Staff had access to equipment and clothing that protected people from cross infection.

People accessed healthcare services to ensure they received ongoing healthcare support.

People, as much as practicably possible, had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way. Staff demonstrated an understanding of how to support people to make choices. There had been an improvement in the completion of mental capacity assessments and appropriate deprivation of liberty safeguard applications had been completed which meant the provider was compliant with the law.

People were supported by kind and caring staff that knew them well. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity. People were supported by staff that knew their preferences.

There was a complaints procedure in place and people and relatives told us their concerns were dealt with positively.

People and their relatives were involved in providing feedback on service provision.

People, their relatives and staff were satisfied with the way the service was managed and the provider worked well with partner organisations to ensure people’s needs were met.

Rating at last inspection:

Requires Improvement (report published 24 May 2018).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to check on the progress of the service in making the required improvements.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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