Mountbatten Grange

Updated 18 December 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one 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

Mountbatten Grange is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 12 people who used the service and four visiting relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with ten members of staff including a domestic worker, a care worker, physiotherapist, a lifestyle lead, a nurse, the deputy manager, the registered manager, the regional director, the operations project director and the customer service manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at staff rotas, training data and staff recruitment and induction records. We spoke with three professionals who were involved with the service.

Updated 18 December 2019

About the service

Mountbatten Grange is a residential care home that provides accommodation and nursing care for up to 72 older people some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 38 people were using the service in one adapted building across three floors including a specialist dementia floor.

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

People and relatives told us they felt the service was safe. Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and staff understood safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures. Medicines records indicated people received their medicines as prescribed and the medicines storage room was well organised. There were enough skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. However, we received some feedback from people there was a delay in staff responding to call bells. The registered manager took action to address this and had systems in place to monitor for improvement. The service used regular agency staff but people told us and records showed that agency use was less over time.

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. Staff co-ordinated effectively with health care practitioners to meet people’s needs and systems were in place to monitor people’s health. People told us they were happy with the variety and quality of meals offered, which they said had improved over time. The environment was well appointed, homely and adapted to meet people’s needs. The dementia suite had clear signage to help orientate people and points of interest to encourage interaction and engagement.

We asked people and relatives if they were well-treated by staff and received comments such as, “The carers are absolutely first class here”, “The care is alright but sometimes it lacks TLC- some of them are better than others” and “[Family member] is looked after extremely well, very nice people, very happy.” We observed staff offered warm interactions and respected people’s privacy bar one exception, which we fed-back to the registered manager who took immediate action to address this.

People's end of life wishes were explored and documented. The service offered a variety of activities and social opportunities which people told us they enjoyed. The service had not received any complaints; the registered manager documented people’s less serious concerns and there was a clear audit trail of swift responses and outcomes.

We received positive feedback about the registered manager’s leadership from people, staff members and social care professionals. The service sought people’s and their relatives’ feedback which was used to drive continuous improvement. There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service and progress had been made to address issues highlighted.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 22 November 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

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