Latest Inspection
This is the latest available inspection report for this service, carried out on 17th December 2009. CQC found this care home to be providing an Good service.
The inspector found no outstanding requirements from the previous inspection report,
but made 5 statutory requirements (actions the home must comply with) as a result of this inspection.
For extracts, read the latest CQC inspection for Leighton Court Nursing Home.
What the care home does well The service ensures that food provided is well presented and served at an acceptable temperature. The service maintains a mix in staff skills which allow care staff to concentrate on the task of supporting the people who use the service. The service maintains records when financial transactions are made on people`s behalf. Comments from people who use the service include: `The food is lovely, we get a choice, it is beautiful and I cannot complain` `Staff are all great, they always say hello and they are always there to help you`. What the care home could do better: The service must ensure that the experience of those who require assistance with eating is more of an event and less task orientated and that staff interact more with individuals during this time. The service must completely review the arrangements for assisting people to eat their meals. The service must ensure that staffing levels are maintained and where shortfalls occur that the Care Quality Commission is informed without delay. The service must clarify its policies in respect of whether or not people who use the service have to purchase their own equipment needed for their care as opposed to the service providing it. A number of good practice recommendations are also raised in this report. Random inspection report
Care homes for older people
Name: Address: Leighton Court Nursing Home 112 Manor Road Wallasey Wirral CH45 7LX two star good service 09/10/2008 The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: A quality rating is our assessment of how well a care home, agency or scheme is meeting the needs of the people who use it. We give a quality rating following a full review of the service. We call this review a ‘key’ inspection. This is a report of a random inspection of this care home. A random inspection is a short, focussed review of the service. Details of how to get other inspection reports for this care home, including the last key inspection report, can be found on the last page of this report. Lead inspector: Paul Kenyon Date: 1 7 1 2 2 0 0 9 Information about the care home
Name of care home: Address: Leighton Court Nursing Home 112 Manor Road Wallasey Wirral CH45 7LX 01516389910 01516389909 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: www.schealthcare.co.uk Name of registered provider(s): Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Southern Cross Healthcare Services Ltd care home 48 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 48 old age, not falling within any other category Conditions of registration: 0 The registered person may provide the following category/ies of service only: Care home with nursing - Code N to service users of the following gender: Either whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following categories: Old age, not falling within any other category - Code OP The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 48. Date of last inspection Brief description of the care home Leighton Court is owned by Southern Cross Healthcare Services Limited, and is managed by Ms Mandy Eccles, a first level nurse with many years experience in caring for the client group and Company policies and procedures. This care home is registered to provide nursing care for 48 older persons. Leighton Court is a three-storey purpose built nursing home close to Liscard shopping centre and other local amenities. Care and accommodation for service users are provided on the ground and first floor, and
Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 10 0 9 1 0 2 0 0 8 Brief description of the care home the kitchen, laundry, staff areas, treatment room and hairdressing salon are located on the top floor. All floors are served by a lift. Fees are currently local social service rates; privately arranged rates negotiated individually are for non-social funded service users. Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 10 What we found:
This was an unannounced random visit to Leighton Court in response to anonymous concerns made to us. The concerns focussed on the financial interests of an individual living there, the standard of the food provided and staffing levels. The visit lasted three hours. During this time we spoke with the Manager of the service, spoke with a number of staff, observed care practices at lunchtime and spoke with people who use the service. We looked at the standard of food provided. We spoke to two people who use the service. One person generally expressed a positive view of the meals provided. Another person was more specific stating that the food is lovely, it is beautiful, we get a choice and I cannot complain We observed routines at lunchtime in one of the living areas. There was no clear indication of what meal was on offer that day. There was a menu on display on another floor but this was not available to the people living in the other living area and the print was small. It is recommended that meals on offer for each day are put on prominent display. Meals are brought up on a heated trolley. It is the people who need assistance with meals that are supported first. Other people who do not require assistance are also invited into the dining room but have to wait for their meals for at least thirty minutes. It is recommended that a better system be introduced to ensure that people who are not assisted do not have to way so long. Six people need assistance with eating their meals. Only three staff were available to do this. As soon as one person has finished their meal, staff move on to another person. There was little verbal interaction between staff and the person they were assisting to eat and an impression was gained from our observations that lunch was more of a process rather than an event for them. The meal on offer was well presented. Meals were covered to ensure that they remained hot while people were waiting. We had concerns about the standard of the meal on offer but observations led us to conclude that mealtimes are more of a task rather than an event. Generally the experience could be enhanced further through staff communicating with people who need assistance and a full review of mealtimes is undertaken. The kitchen staff maintain a diary which includes comments by individuals about the quality of the food provided. Some comments were positive while some were critical about the cooking of vegetables and meat but there was no indication on how these comments are used to improve the standard of meals. It is recommended that there is a response by the service to any concerns about the quality of meals provided to ensure that such concerns are addressed. We looked at staffing levels within the service. At the time of the visit there were 39 people living at Leighton Court. The home can accommodate a maximum of 48. Staff on duty during the visit included the Manager, Two Nurses, Eight Carers, An Activities Organiser, Kitchen staff, Domestic staff, an Administrator and maintenance staff. At night there are two Nurses and three carers. Care Homes for Older People Page 4 of 10 Staffing levels for carers in the afternoon include a total of six carers, three on each floor. Discussions with the Manager stated that when forty five people are in the service, an extra member of staff is on duty. Dependency levels tend to be assessed by the manager informally and in turn she reports to her line manager. Dependency is judged on the content of service user reviews, the frequency of pressure sores, weight monitoring and reports from nurses. There is no formal dependency tool used and it is recommended that this is introduced to ensure that staffing levels meet the needs of people. During the visit the staff rota and our observations confirmed that there were eight care staff on duty. We interviewed a number of staff. Some staff considered that there were sufficient staff on duty. Others stated that there had been occasions in the past when only two care staff had been on duty and that had not been ideal. This had been addressed with the recruitment of new staff. It is required that staffing levels are reviewed to ensure that staffing levels do not fall below the levels set by the service and that where staffing shortfalls do occur, that we are notified of such occasions. We looked at the financial interests of one person identified in the concerns made to us. The Manager explained that there had been no contact with this persons family for some time and that personal allowances were mounting up. This person had relied on the service funding basic items such as clothes and toiletries. It was the view of the service that this person needed specialist equipment to best support them. Receipts and records were available to suggest that a specialist bed and lifting aid known as a standard had been purchased using this persons monies. In order to authorise the release of these funds, the service had contacted Social Services who enabled funds to be released. The person has been reported as being unable to make decisions themselves and does not have an advocate involved in decision making. It is recommended that a full review of this person is undertaken so that decisions in the persons best interests can be determined. The equipment purchased was noted during our visit to be used only by the individual and was not used by anyone else. The service must clarify its policies as to whether or not there is an expectation that the people who use the service will have to purchase equipment to assist with there support rather than the service provide it. What the care home does well:
The service ensures that food provided is well presented and served at an acceptable temperature. The service maintains a mix in staff skills which allow care staff to concentrate on the task of supporting the people who use the service. The service maintains records when financial transactions are made on peoples behalf. Comments from people who use the service include: The food is lovely, we get a choice, it is beautiful and I cannot complain Staff are all great, they always say hello and they are always there to help you. Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 10 What they could do better: If you want to know what action the person responsible for this care home is taking following this report, you can contact them using the details set out on page 2. Care Homes for Older People Page 6 of 10 Are there any outstanding requirements from the last inspection? Yes £ No R Outstanding statutory requirements
These are requirements that were set at the previous inspection, but have still not been met. They say what the registered person had to do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Care Homes for Older People Page 7 of 10 Requirements and recommendations from this inspection:
Immediate requirements: These are immediate requirements that were set on the day we visited this care home. The registered person had to meet these within 48 hours.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Statutory requirements These requirements set out what the registered person must do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must do this within the timescales we have set.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action 1 15 12 The service must review the 29/01/2010 arrangements for supporting people at mealtimes So that meals are a quality experience for people and not a process 2 15 12 The service must ensure that 29/01/2010 staff interact more with people who require assistance with feeding during meals So that meals are a quality experience for people and not a process 3 27 18 The service must ensure that 26/02/2010 staffing levels are maintained So that the needs of people are met 4 27 37 The service must notify the Care Quality Commission of any staffing shortfalls So that when the needs of people are adversely affected by shortfalls, the frequency 29/01/2010 Care Homes for Older People Page 8 of 10 Statutory requirements These requirements set out what the registered person must do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must do this within the timescales we have set.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action of such events can be monitored 5 35 23 The service must clarify its 26/02/2010 position as to whether the people who use the service have to purchase the equipment needed to support them or whether this is provided by the service So that their financial interests are safeguarded Recommendations These recommendations are taken from the best practice described in the National Minimum Standards and the registered person(s) should consider them as a way of improving their service.
No Refer to Standard Good Practice Recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 15 15 15 27 35 The service shuld review the time people who do not need assistance with eating have to wait for their own meals Comments records on the standard of food provided should be acted upon The service should produce an easy to read notice to display what meals are offered for each day The service should use a tool to measure the dependency level of people who use the service each month. A review should be held in respect of the individual identified at the visit to determine their capacity in making decisions with their finances and involvement by advocacy services with their care Care Homes for Older People Page 9 of 10 Reader Information
Document Purpose: Author: Audience: Further copies from: Inspection Report Care Quality Commission General Public 0870 240 7535 (telephone order line) Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. Copies of the National Minimum Standards –Care Homes for Older People can be found at www.dh.gov.uk or got from The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering from the Stationery Office is also available: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop Helpline: Telephone: 03000 616161 Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk Web: www.cqc.org.uk We want people to be able to access this information. If you would like a summary in a different format or language please contact our helpline or go to our website. Copyright © (2009) Care Quality Commission (CQC). This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, free of charge, in any format or medium provided that it is not used for commercial gain. This consent is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and on proviso that it is not used in a derogatory manner or misleading context. The material should be acknowledged as CQC copyright, with the title and date of publication of the document specified. Care Homes for Older People Page 10 of 10 - Please note that this information is included on www.bestcarehome.co.uk under license from the regulator. Re-publishing this information is in breach of the terms of use of that website. Discrete codes and changes have been inserted throughout the textual data shown on the site that will provide incontrovertable proof of copying in the event this information is re-published on other websites. The policy of www.bestcarehome.co.uk is to use all legal avenues to pursue such offenders, including recovery of costs. You have been warned!
