Summer Fields

Updated 19 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. We received information of concern about infection prevention and control measures/visiting arrangements/staffing at this service. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 24 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service two hours notice of the inspection.

Updated 19 February 2022

Summer Fields is a residential care home for 49 people. Summer Fields is a large property owned by Your Health Limited. The home is registered to provide accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care. At the time of inspection the home was providing care for 42 people.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the overall rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns, however Summer Fields had achieved a rating of requires improvement in the safe domain. We found medication procedures at the home were safe, however we identified a recording problem regarding medication.

This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

We spoke with the people who lived in the home, relatives and visiting professionals who all gave positive feedback about the home and the staff who worked in it. The service had a relaxed and homely feel and people were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and participate in activities they enjoyed.

People told us they felt safe at the home and had no worries or concerns. From our observations it was clear that staff cared for the people they looked after and knew them well. People and relatives we spoke with said they would know how to make a complaint. No-one we spoke with had any complaints.

Care plans and risk assessments were person centred and detailed how people wished and needed to be cared for. They were regularly reviewed and updated as required. Care plans showed that people's GPs and other healthcare professionals were contacted for advice about people’s health needs whenever necessary. We saw the service had responded promptly when people had experienced health problems.

The registered manager used different methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits of the service and staff meetings to seek the views of staff about the service.

Staff were recruited safely and there was evidence that staff received a proper induction and suitable training to do their job role effectively. All staff had been supervised in their role. Staffing levels were consistent and were adapted to meet people’s needs following dependency assessments of people living in the home.

We found that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) 2009 legislation had been followed. The registered manager told us that DoLS applications had been submitted to the Local Authority for some people.

Infection control standards at the home were good and standards were monitored and managed and the maintenance records were up to date and legible, this meant the home was a safe environment.

Further information is in the detailed findings below