What the CQC found at Polefield Nursing Home

People and staff described a positive culture. Inspectors observed friendly, respectful and pleasant interactions.

“People and staff reported a positive culture within the home and people told us staff were kind and caring.” from the report

Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs promptly. Recruitment checks were completed before staff started work.

“There were enough staff to meet people's needs in a timely way.” from the report

Staff followed systems for prescribing, giving, recording and storing medicines. Staff who gave medicines had training and competency checks.

“Medicines were managed safely. People were supported by staff who followed systems and processes to prescribe, administer, record and store medicines safely.” from the report

Staff worked with relevant health and social care professionals. Training had been completed to help staff recognise when someone's health was deteriorating.

“The staff had collaborative working relationships with relevant health care professionals such as social workers and district nurses.” from the report

Oversight of accidents and incidents needed to improve. Some actions were not completed promptly, and two incidents involving harm were not notified correctly to CQC until after the inspection.

“Oversight of accidents and incidents had not been effective. Recent improvements had been made to documentation, but further improvements were needed” from the report

Safeguarding concerns were reported, but follow-up was not always timely when outside agencies had not responded. Inspectors recommended reviewing current safeguarding guidance.

“However, where outside agencies had not responded, this had not always been followed up in a timely manner.” from the report

Some training was overdue at the inspection. The home had plans for this to be completed by August 2023.

“At the time of the inspection training was out of date, but plans were in place for this to be completed by August 2023.” from the report

Three of eight care plans checked had recording errors. Two had inaccurate assessments for people at risk of choking, although these were corrected during the inspection and no harm had occurred.

“Two contained inaccurate speech and language assessments for people at risk of choking. This was corrected during the inspection.” from the report

Hoists and other equipment were stored in corridors because storage space was limited. This created a potential trip hazard, although no one had been harmed.

“Space available to store equipment was limited. We found equipment such as hoists were stored in corridors.” from the report