Archived: Fonthill House

Updated 22 June 2016

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection was unannounced and was carried out by two inspectors and a specialist advisor. The inspection took place on 17 and 30 March 2015. We looked at all the information we held about the home. This included information from notifications. Notifications are events which the manager is required to send us. We also sought feedback from professionals who were involved with the service.

During the inspection we spoke with eleven people who lived in the home. We observed how staff supported people and spoke with three care staff, the clinical nursing manager and the registered manager who was also the provider (owner). We also spoke with four relatives to obtain their feedback on how people were supported to live their lives.

We looked at seven people’s care records, staff training and recruitment records, and records that related to the management of the service which included audits, staff rotas, and quality monitoring arrangements.

Updated 22 June 2016

Fonthill House is a purpose built nursing and residential care home. The home is located in a new build housing development in St. Albans. It has the capacity to accommodate up to 64 elderly or frail people and provides nursing care and palliative care. The environment throughout was of a high standard with attention to detail such as an extensive range of books for people to borrow and large mounted photographs throughout the home that had been selected from places and events that held familiar and happy memories for people who lived at Fonthill House.

There were 57 people living at the service on the day of our inspection. There was a registered manager in post. They were registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager at Fonthill House was also the provider (owner).

When we last inspected the service on 12 August 2014 we found them to be meeting the required standards. At this inspection we found that they had continued to meet the standards.

People told us they felt safe and secure living at Fonthill House. Staff were knowledgeable in recognising signs of potential abuse and knew how to report concerns both within the organisation and externally if required. Assessments were undertaken to identify any risks to people who received a service and to the staff who supported them. There were plenty of staff available to meet people’s individual support and care needs at all times, including during the night and at weekends. People received appropriate support from staff to enable them to take their medicines.

People received care and support that was based on their individual needs and preferences. There was a ‘people first’ culture within the home and people were central to everything the manager put in place. People’s care and support plans were reviewed regularly in consultation with the person and, where appropriate, family members to ensure the service continued to meet their changing needs. People and their relatives felt confident to raise any concerns and told us they were confident any concerns would be resolved without delay. People received their care and support from a staff team that were both competent and extremely knowledgeable with regard to people’s health and care needs and demonstrated that they were skilled and experienced to meet them. People who used the service were treated with dignity and respect, and their privacy and confidentiality was maintained.

People were offered a range of innovative and diverse activities and were supported to pursue hobbies and pastimes that were of interest to them, and that were suited to their varying abilities.

Safe and robust recruitment practices were followed to make sure that all staff were of good character, and were suitable to work in a care home environment as well as being fit for the roles they were being employed to carry out. Staff records confirmed checks had been made which ensured they were safe to work with vulnerable adults before a position was offered to them. They also told us that they had been encouraged to spend time with people who lived at the home as part of the recruitment process.

Staff were well supported by the registered manager and received an induction when they started working at the home. They received on-going training and support to enable them to perform their roles effectively. Staff had regular individual supervision meetings, team meeting and had an annual appraisal to review their development and performance.

People’s views about the service were gathered using several methods, including a comments and suggestions box, a comments book, survey and verbal feedback.

Feedback was used in a positive way to improve the quality of the overall service. People we spoke to were positive and complimentary about all aspects of the service.

The manager was creative and innovative in how the service was operated. People were encouraged and supported with a focus on what they could do and they were not restricted by health or physical conditions. People were supported to take risks and make their own informed decisions. The manager had developed excellent links within the local community which enhanced the quality of life for people who lived at Fonthill House. For example they had regular high profile and inspirational speakers who came to the home to give a talk on a variety of issues and current affairs. People told us repeatedly that the management and staff consistently strived to improve the quality of lives of everyone who passed through their doors.