CQC report explained · a nursing home
What the CQC found at Hillside Care Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- Safe was not included in the key questions reviewed at this inspection, so the report does not give a current Safe rating.
- Effective?
- Good
- Care plans were detailed and reviewed, staff received training and supervision, people were supported with food and drink, and health concerns were referred on promptly.
- Caring?
- Good
- Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect. People and families were involved in decisions about care.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care was planned around people's needs and preferences. People were supported with communication, activities, relationships, visitors and end-of-life wishes.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Well-led was not included in the key questions reviewed at this inspection, so the report does not give a current Well-led rating.
What inspectors found, November 2023
Rated Good; inspectors found effective, kind and responsive care, with a minor privacy concern about care records being left unattended.
This was an unannounced planned inspection on 12 September 2023. Two inspectors spoke with seven people, a family member, the manager and six staff. They also reviewed six care records and staff training and supervision records.
The inspectors rated the home Good overall. Effective, Caring and Responsive were all rated Good. They found detailed care plans, prompt responses to changes in people's health, respectful staff and support for people's choices, communication, activities and relationships.
The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement in June 2019. The report says improvements had been made in all three areas reviewed. Some work was still ongoing, including making personalised care planning consistent and improving parts of the environment.
Detailed care planning
Care plans described people's needs, choices and desired outcomes. They were reviewed with people and relevant others.
“Care plans identified people's needs, how they were to be met and what the desired outcomes were for the person.” from the report
Prompt health support
Staff monitored people's health and made prompt referrals when professional help was needed.
“People's health and wellbeing was monitored, and staff responded to any changes observed.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors saw staff communicating respectfully, responding quickly to requests and supporting people's dignity and independence.
“Staff respected and promoted people's privacy, dignity and independence and treated people well.” from the report
Involvement and activities
People and families were involved in care reviews. Staff supported relationships, interests and both group and one-to-one activities.
“There were staff employed to arrange and facilitate both one to one and group activities for people.” from the report
Complaints used for improvement
The home had a complaints procedure, recorded complaints and noted improvements made in response.
“Complaints were responded to and used to improve the quality of the service.” from the report
Personal records left unattended
minorSome people's personal care records were left on a dining room table. Staff secured them after inspectors raised the issue, and the manager addressed it immediately.
“we observed some people's personal care records left unattended on a table in a dining room.” from the report
Personalised planning still being made consistent
minorThe report says improvements were ongoing to ensure staff used a consistent approach when planning personalised care.
“Improvements were ongoing to ensure a consistent approach to planning people's care in a personalised way.” from the report
- 01How will you make sure personal care records are kept secure and never left unattended in communal areas?
- 02What work remains to make personalised care planning consistent across all four units?
- 03What additional dementia care training was planned, and has it now been completed?
- 04What environmental improvements were underway at the inspection, and what has been completed?
- 05What are the current arrangements for checking the home's Safe and Well-led performance, which were not reviewed in this inspection?
This was a planned inspection focused on Effective, Caring and Responsive; Safe and Well-led were not reviewed and no current ratings were given for them. This explanation was written from the published report of 2 November 2023 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, March 2023
Rated Good; inspectors found the home safe and well-led, with improvements since the last inspection.
Inspectors made an unannounced visit on 15 February 2023. They spoke with people living at the home, family members and staff, and checked care, medicines, recruitment and management records.
The home was rated Good for Safe and Well-led. People and families said they felt safe. Inspectors found suitable staffing, safe recruitment, safe medicines management, good infection control and appropriate action when accidents or incidents happened.
The registered manager and staff had improved the home since the previous inspection, which was rated Requires Improvement. The overall rating changed to Good, but ratings for questions not inspected were carried over from the previous inspection.
People felt safe
People and family members told inspectors they felt safe. Staff understood how to recognise and report abuse.
“People told us they felt safe and family members told us they were confident their relative was kept safe.” from the report
Safe staffing and medicines
Inspectors found enough suitably skilled staff and safe recruitment checks. Medicines staff were trained, checked for competence and subject to regular audits.
“Medicines were used safely.” from the report
Good infection control
Inspectors found good cleanliness, suitable infection control training, enough protective equipment and safe arrangements for visits.
“The cleanliness and hygiene across the service was maintained to a good standard.” from the report
Improved leadership
The manager had embedded improvements since the previous inspection. Audits, spot checks and feedback were used to monitor and improve the home.
“The registered manager had influenced and embedded improvements to the service since the last inspection with the support of a committed and passionate staff team.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01What were the ratings for Effective, Caring and Responsive at the previous inspection?
- 02What specific changes were made after the Requires Improvement rating in July 2021?
- 03How are medicines staff kept trained and checked as competent?
- 04How are families told about changes to their relative's care?
- 05How do the audits and service improvement plan lead to further changes?
This was a planned inspection focused on Safe and Well-led; the ratings for Effective, Caring and Responsive were not inspected and were carried over from the previous inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 7 March 2023 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 Hillside Care Home
7 rated inspections over 5 years: the service has improved, from Inadequate to Good.
- November 2023Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2023Goodup from Requires improvement
- July 2021Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Good
- September 2020Requires improvementup from InadequateSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- April 2020Inadequatedown from Requires improvementSafe: InadequateEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Inadequate
- August 2019Requires improvementup from InadequateSafe: GoodEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- December 2018InadequateSafe: InadequateEffective: Requires improvementCaring: InadequateResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Inadequate
- August 2017
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 30 August 2017.
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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Most charge £980 to £1,260 a week. 91 can care for a couple. 10 years' experience on average.
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“He developed a close affinity with Terence, spending time talking with him before he retired to bed and looking after his needs during the night.”
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