What the CQC found at St Martha's

Inspectors saw staff speaking calmly and sympathetically with patients, including when patients were agitated. Relatives said their loved ones were listened to and included.

“Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness. They respected patients’ privacy and dignity.” from the report

Staff assessed patients’ needs and created holistic, recovery-focused care plans. These were reviewed and updated when needs changed.

“Care plans reflected patients’ assessed needs, and were personalised, holistic and recovery-oriented.” from the report

The home had enough nursing, support and medical staff. Staff assessed risks, shared information and used de-escalation before restraint.

“The service had enough nursing, support and medical staff, who knew the patients and received basic training to keep people safe from avoidable harm.” from the report

Different professional groups worked together and the home had access to specialists such as physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.

“Staff from different disciplines worked together as a team to benefit patients.” from the report

Staff involved relatives in care planning and listened to their knowledge about patients’ needs and preferences. Patients could also attend regular meetings and access independent advocacy.

“Both relatives we spoke with told us that the ward manager had taken the time to ask them about their loved ones and valued their input in care planning.” from the report

Patients could not freely access water in communal areas and had to ask staff for a drink. The restriction was not assessed for each patient or included in the restrictions log.

“Patients did not have open access to water in communal areas.” from the report

The report says some staff were still completing induction and the overall training compliance was below the provider’s target. Managers said training would be completed during the 12-week induction.

“Due to a large number of new starters the overall training compliance for the service was below the providers target of 75%.” from the report

The home had identified improvements needed to signage and room colours through an audit. Inspectors said the action plan should be followed through.

“The provider should follow through on its action plan to ensure the ward environments are dementia friendly where appropriate.” from the report

The ward manager had not completed care plan audits since October 2019, and not all staff could update electronic records or had their own computer log-in.

“The ward manager had completed care plan audits in the previous months however had not completed any since October 2019.” from the report