Swallownest Nursing Home

Updated 10 April 2024

Date of assessment from 20 June to 30 August 2024. Swallownest Nursing Home is a ‘care home’ providing nursing and personal care for up to 64 older people, including people living with dementia. At the time of the assessment site visit, 57 people were using the service. This assessment was prompted in part due to concerns about the quality and the management of people’s care. We found no evidence during this assessment that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Where things had gone wrong, there had been thorough investigations. We saw a culture of learning, which identified themes and trends and timely and appropriate remedial action was taken to prevent recurrences. We saw no indication of ongoing, unmanaged risks to people using the service. The service was last rated Good (published 13 August 2019). The report was published following the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) old inspection approach using key lines of enquiry (KLOEs), prompts and ratings characteristics. This assessment has been completed following CQC’s new approach to assessment; the Single Assessment Framework (SAF). We found the service remained Good. The assessment team consisted of 3 inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 5 relatives. During the site visit we spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager along with nursing, care, ancillary and wellbeing staff.

Updated 10 April 2024

We received positive feedback about the service from people who used the service and relatives. People told us they felt safe and were involved in the planning of their care. Typical responses included, “I am safe here, yes. I am happy too. The staff are all hard working” and, “[My family member] is safe here. Staff are brilliant. I think they are well enough trained, from what I’ve seen” .There were no restrictions to people receiving visits and we saw relatives coming and going throughout the day of our assessment visit. People and their relatives told us staff were respectful, kind and helpful, and our observations supported this. People’s relatives said they felt the service involved their family members in care planning and managing risks, people had opportunities to give feedback and their wishes were respected. People, their relatives and staff told us the management team were supportive and approachable, and there was a positive culture within the home. They were confident to speak with staff and the registered manager if they had any concerns. People and their relatives said the home environment was clean, safe and comfortable. People were happy with the support they received with their medicines and had access to healthcare services when needed. People and most relatives told us there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. People said they were enabled to retain as much independence as possible. They told us there a variety of activities on offer, both on groups and on an individual basis, to help keep them active in mind and body. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.