Archived: Seymour House - Northwood

Updated 29 October 2015

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.

This inspection took place on 5 and 6 October 2015 and the first day was unannounced.

Before the inspection we looked at all the information we had about the service. This information included the statutory notifications that the provider had sent to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us. We also contacted the local authority’s quality assurance and safeguarding team for their views about the home.

We used different methods to obtain information about the service. As the majority of people were not able to contribute their views to this inspection, we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) to observe care and interactions between people and staff. SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk with us.

During the inspection we spoke with six people who live in the service, two friends (visitors) of people living in the service and two relatives. We also spoke with the registered manager, a senior care staff member, three care staff, a domestic staff member, the cook, the hairdresser, the activities co-ordinator, laundry assistant and a visiting professional.

We looked at three people’s care records. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service including medicines management, three staff records and incident and accident records.

Updated 29 October 2015

The inspection took place on the 5 and 6 October 2015 and the first day was unannounced.

Seymour House- Northwood provides long term accommodation for up to 24 older people, some of whom were living with dementia. Staff received training in dementia so that they understood how to support people appropriately. There were 24 people living in the service at the time of the inspection.

We last inspected Seymour House-Northwood in June 2014. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the regulations that we assessed.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 were very happy with the service and we received positive feedback from people, relatives, visitors who were friends of the people living in the home and the visiting healthcare professional. They were complimentary about the staff and the care people received. Staff showed respect for people, listening to them and supporting them in a caring and gentle way.

Risk assessments were in place that reflected current risks for people in the service and ways to try and reduce these. Care plans were being regularly reviewed to ensure the care provided met people’s changing needs.

People were encouraged to take part in both group and one to one activities and these were appropriate to what were people’s interests and understanding.

We found the service to be meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). DoLS are in place to ensure that people’s freedom is not unduly restricted. Where people were at risk and unable to make decisions in their own best interest, they had been appropriately referred for assessment under DoLS. People’s capacity had also been considered to ensure staff supported people where possible to make daily choices and decisions. We saw staff supporting and helping to maintain people’s independence.

People had a choice of meals and staff were available to provide support and assistance with meals. Where food and fluid intakes were being recorded for some people, the results were being effectively monitored. Staff referred people for input from healthcare professionals when required.

There were recruitment procedures and checks in place to ensure staff were suitably vetted before working with people.

The staff we spoke with were able to tell us the action they would take to ensure that people were protected from abuse. Staff had received training about safeguarding and records were kept of any concerns.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Input from the GP and other healthcare professionals was available to address any health concerns.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided and staff met as a team to look at what was working well and where improvements could be made to ensure people received a good caring service.