St Lauras

Updated 3 March 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. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has 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 15 February 2022 and was unannounced.

Updated 3 March 2022

About the service

St Lauras is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 45 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 64 people.

St Lauras is a purpose-built residential home offering accommodation to people over three floors. The fourth floor being used for facilities like kitchen, laundry, staff room and a cinema room used by people living in St Lauras.

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

People felt safe and praised staff for being caring and respectful. People and relatives told us they wished for more staff so they could spend time in their company, however if they requested help this was done promptly. People’s medicines were managed safely.

People were involved in planning their care and they felt staff listened to them. Relatives were happy about the measures in place to protect people from COVID-19 and complimented the high level of cleanliness in the home. Staff followed Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidance and wore appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when working.

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.

Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff followed these to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and mitigated to keep people safe.

Staff were supported and motivated by the management team in the home to attend training and develop their skills and knowledge to further their career. Staff praised the registered manager for leading from the front, being supportive and hands on helping with daily tasks.

There were numerous improvements made by the registered manager in the few months they have been in post. These included developing an effective, skilled staff team, improving risk management and care records. There were still areas the registered manager was improving. These included the personalisation of care records, staffing, falls analysis and monitoring of daily charts.

The providers governance systems helped the registered manager identify the areas in need of improvements. The regular audits done by the registered manager and the provider led to a service improvement plan with actions taken to address all shortfalls within the home.

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 28 November 2019 and this is the first comprehensive inspection. We carried out a targeted inspection on 12 March 2021, however the service was not rated.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.