CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Hambrook Meadows
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- Inspectors found suitable staffing levels, risk assessments, safe medicines systems and infection-control arrangements. Staff had safeguarding training and equipment and fire safety checks were in place.
- Effective?
- Good
- People's needs were assessed before admission and staff had relevant training. People were supported with food, drink, healthcare and decisions about their care.
- Caring?
- Outstanding
- Inspectors found exceptionally compassionate care, with staff showing empathy and knowing people's histories, routines and preferences. People were involved in everyday decisions and treated with dignity.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care plans recorded people's health needs, preferences and social histories. The home provided individual activities, adapted communication and gave thoughtful end-of-life support.
- Well-led?
- Good
- The home had clear leadership, an open culture and systems for seeking people's views and checking quality. The manager worked with other professionals and used an improvement plan.
What inspectors found, February 2020
Hambrook Meadows was rated Good overall, with Outstanding caring and strong evidence of kind, personalised support.
This was an unannounced inspection over 4 and 5 December 2019. One inspector spoke with people living at the home, visitors, staff and healthcare professionals. They also observed care and checked care plans, medicines, recruitment records and quality checks.
The home was rated Good for Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led. It was rated Outstanding for Caring. Inspectors found suitable staffing, safe medicines practice, trained staff, personalised care plans and support with activities, communication and healthcare.
Inspectors saw a strong culture of kindness and respect. Staff supported people to make everyday choices and promoted privacy and independence. The home had also made changes for people living with dementia and worked closely with healthcare professionals, including at the end of life.
The overall Good rating means inspectors found the service consistently met people's needs and was safely and effectively managed. Caring improved from Good at the previous inspection to Outstanding. The other four ratings remained Good.
Compassionate staff
Inspectors found staff were highly motivated and provided unusually kind and empathetic care. Relatives and healthcare professionals also gave very positive feedback.
“Staff were highly motivated and offered care and support that was exceptionally compassionate and kind.” from the report
Personal choices
People were supported to choose their routines, clothing, food and activities. Staff knew individual preferences and promoted privacy, dignity and independence.
“People expressed their views and were involved in making everyday decisions about their care.” from the report
Personalised activities
Activities were adapted to people's interests and abilities. The home supported links with families, schools, social clubs and personal interests.
“People enjoyed a range of activities which had been designed to meet their individual needs.” from the report
End-of-life support
End-of-life wishes were recorded and staff worked with healthcare professionals to provide comfort and support families. Religious and personal preferences were taken into account.
“The registered manager and staff worked closely with healthcare professionals to ensure people's needs and preferences were met at the end of life.” from the report
Responsive staffing
Staffing arrangements were changed when inspectors identified busier periods, including evenings and mornings. This helped meet people's changing needs.
“The registered manager extended the shift end time to ensure there was an extra member of staff on at that time.” from the report
Care plans were being changed
minorCare plans were being transferred from one format to another during the inspection. Staff said the new format was easier to use, but families should check that current information is carried across fully.
“The registered manager was in the process of transferring care plans from one format to another.” from the report
Some personal items were mislaid
minorStaff found that some papers, games and personal items were being lost or misplaced. The home responded by giving some people individual baskets to keep belongings together.
“However, staff found that some items became mislaid.” from the report
- 01How will you make sure my relative's care plan is fully up to date during and after the move to the new format?
- 02How do you record and review changes in my relative's health, mobility, eating, drinking or daily routine?
- 03How will you label and safeguard my relative's personal belongings, papers and activity items?
- 04How would you support my relative's end-of-life wishes, including any religious preferences and decisions about resuscitation?
- 05How are staffing levels adjusted if my relative's needs change or if particular times of day become busier?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five CQC questions, including the premises and care provided; the previous overall rating was Good and Caring improved from Good to Outstanding. This explanation was written from the published report of 21 February 2020 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
What inspectors found, May 2017
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, and the home remained Good since the previous inspection.
This was an unannounced, comprehensive inspection on 27 April 2017. Inspectors spoke with people living at the home, relatives, staff and health professionals. They observed care, lunch, medicines and a staff handover, and checked care records, medicines, recruitment, training and quality checks.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines management, suitable care plans and good support for people's health, food and personal choices.
People and relatives described staff as kind, respectful and caring. Inspectors saw warm and positive relationships. They also found that people were involved in decisions, supported to keep relationships and activities, and able to raise concerns.
The home was rated Good at the previous inspection on 29 October 2014, and inspectors found that it remained Good. This means the inspection found the home meeting the relevant standards at that time, but it is not a guarantee that every future experience will be the same.
Kind and respectful staff
People, relatives and professionals consistently described staff as caring. Inspectors observed warm, positive relationships and respectful support.
“We observed interactions by staff that were genuine, warm, positive, respectful and friendly and people told us this was the norm.” from the report
Personalised care
Care plans reflected people's individual needs, wishes and communication methods. Staff knew people well and recorded their daily lives in detail.
“Daily records were detailed, person centred and reflected the lives of people living at the home.” from the report
Safe staffing and medicines
Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs safely. Medicines were managed by trained staff whose competence had been checked.
“There were enough staff to keep people safe and meet their needs.” from the report
Strong leadership and monitoring
The manager was seen as supportive and a good role model. Regular audits and surveys helped the home identify and make improvements.
“There was an established system of quality monitoring that ensured people received consistently good quality care and support.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How would you support my relative if they later needed nursing care, which the report says the home does not provide?
- 02How would you keep my relative's care plan and risk assessments up to date if their needs changed?
- 03How would you support my relative to choose activities, maintain relationships and follow their religious or personal interests?
- 04How do you check that medicines continue to be given safely, and how often are staff's competencies reviewed?
- 05How would my relative or our family raise a complaint, and how would you show us what action had been taken?
This was an unannounced, comprehensive inspection covering all five CQC questions, including observations, discussions, records, medicines, staffing and quality monitoring. This explanation was written from the published report of 20 May 2017 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of Hambrook Meadows
3 rated inspections over 5 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- February 2020Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: OutstandingResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- May 2017Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- April 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- June 2013
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 28 June 2013.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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28 live-in carers within about an hour of West Sussex
These are self-employed carers on PrimeCarers, the introductory agency that runs this directory. Each has a profile with their own rates and reviews from families, and you choose who to talk to.
Most charge £1,020 to £1,170 a week. 23 can care for a couple. 11 years' experience on average.
Every carer has had an enhanced DBS check in the last 18 months, ID and right-to-work checks and an online interview. Their skills and training are for you to check with them. Carers set their own rates, and who is free changes week to week.