Sancroft Community Care Limited- Sancroft Hall

We found the following examples of good practice.

Everyone entering the home was required to wash and sanitise their hands and received a temperature check before being allowed to leave the reception area. All staff and visitors were required to don personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, and disposable gloves and aprons, where appropriate, before entering any part of the home. Visitors were required to take a COVID-19 lateral flow test and wait for a negative result prior to entering the home. An area with seating was provided for visitors to wait for their results.

During the COVID-19 pandemic ‘lock-down’ period the home had supported relatives to visit family members receiving end of life care. All visits by family members and friends were arranged by appointment to enable staff to ensure that cleaning was undertaken between appointments.

Staff used laptop computers/tablets to enable people to keep in touch with friends and family where they or their loved ones were isolating. This enabled people to stay in contact with their loved ones, whilst keeping other people and staff safe.

In addition to the COVID-19 testing programme for care homes, which followed government guidance, staff were required to demonstrate a negative lateral flow test result before commencing work shifts. A room had been set aside for testing and staff had access to a safe area to wait for a negative result before starting work. The provider paid full salary to staff who were required to isolate following a positive test result to ensure they were not financially disadvantaged.

An area of the home had been allocated and used specifically to isolate and care for people diagnosed with COVID-19 should this be necessary.

All staff received training on COVID-19, infection control and the safe use of PPE. A lead infection control champion was responsible for ensuring training and up-to-date guidance was followed.

Members of the housekeeping team cleaned frequently touched surfaces, such as light switches and door handles throughout the day. Care staff carried out these cleaning tasks during the evenings and at weekends. This helped prevent and control infection within the home.

Staff worked on one unit only, creating a ‘bubble’ with the people who lived there. Activities were repeated in each unit so that small groups of people could participate with their regular staff members in a socially distanced way. Where people had been confined to their rooms due to a need to isolate, staff provided personalised activities for them, such as videos, music and chats.

During our inspection we met a person who had recently moved to the home and was required to isolate in their room for a period of COVID-19 testing. They understood the reasons for this and confirmed that staff visited regularly for chats. Although their personal items had not yet been moved to the home, they had been provided with a television so they could watch programmes of their choice.

We found the following examples of good practice.

• Everyone entering the home was required to wash and sanitise their hands and received a temperature check before being allowed to leave the reception area. All staff and visitors were required to don personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, and disposable gloves and aprons, where appropriate, before entering any part of the home. Visitors were required to take a COVID-19 test and wait for a result prior to entering the home. An area with seating was provided for visitors to wait for their results.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic the home had supported relatives to visit family members receiving end of life care following safety and temperature checks and using appropriate PPE. The home had provided a room accessible from the garden to ensure that visitors could meet family members safely. All visits by family members and friends were arranged by appointment to enable staff to ensure that cleaning was undertaken between appointments. The home had ordered a shelter for the garden to ensure that there were further opportunities for people to meet with family members and friends.

• Staff used laptop computers/tablets to enable people to keep in touch with family members who were unable to visit. These arrangements enabled people to stay in contact with their loved ones, whilst keeping other people and staff safe.

• People and staff had received regular testing for COVID-19. The provider paid the full salary to staff who were required to isolate to ensure they were not financially disadvantaged if they needed to isolate following a positive test.

•An area of the home had been allocated and used specifically to isolate and care for people diagnosed with Covid-19 should this be necessary.

• All staff had received training on COVID-19, infection control and the safe use of PPE.

• Members of the housekeeping team cleaned frequently touched surfaces, such as light switches and door handles throughout the day. Care staff carried out these cleaning tasks during the evenings and at weekends. This helped prevent and control infection within the home.

• ‘Bubbles’ had been created for activities. Activities were repeated so that small groups of people could participate with their regular staff members in a socially distanced way. Where people had been confined to their rooms due to a need to isolate, staff provided personalised activities for them, such as videos, music and chats.

• During this inspection building contractors were working at the home replacing windows. The window replacement work had been planned to reduce contact with people living at the home. The provider had placed a ‘portaloo’ in the car park area to reduce the need for contractors to use toilets and washing facilities within the home. The contractors entered and exited the home using a doorway not used by people and their visitors. These arrangements reduced the risk of infection.

Sancroft Community Care limited-Sancroft Hall is a residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 62 older people some of whom live with dementia. The service was provided in six ‘houses’ within the care home. Two of the houses accommodated Asian older people. At the time of the inspection 56 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe and staff were kind. Engagement between staff and people using the service was caring and respectful. Staff provided people with personalised care that met their needs and preferences.

People's care and support plans were up to date and personalised. They included details about people’s individual needs and guidance for staff to follow to make sure people received the care that they needed and wanted.

Staff were caring and treated people with dignity. People’s differences including cultural and religious needs were understood and respected by staff.

People were supported to maintain good health and to eat and drink well. People were supported to access healthcare services.

People’s independence was promoted and supported by staff. Staff recognised and respected people’s abilities. People were supported to access the local community and to carry out everyday living tasks independently.

Staff knew what their responsibilities were in relation to keeping people safe. Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns they had about people's welfare and how to protect them from abuse.

Risks to people's health and wellbeing were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff took

action to minimise these risks and keep people safe.

Arrangements were in place to ensure that people received their prescribed medicines safely.

The provider recruited staff carefully to ensure that staff were suitable for their role. Staffing numbers and skill mix were flexible and decided by evaluation of people’s needs.

Staff had the skills and knowledge to provide people with the care and support that they needed. They received the training and support that they needed to enable them to carry out their roles and responsibilities.

Staff understood the importance to people of social interaction. People had opportunities to participate in a range of social and leisure activities. People were supported to have the relationships that they wanted with family and friends.

People were supported to have choice in their daily lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The home was clean and safely maintained.

The registered manager showed effective leadership and the home was well run. Staff felt supported. Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality and delivery of care to people and drive improvement.

Rating at last inspection: This is the first inspection of the service since the new provider registered with us in February 2018.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled planned comprehensive inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive. We will inspect in line with our inspection programme or sooner if required.

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