Netherton Court Nursing Home

1. The provider should ensure medication is stored, administered, and recorded safely. This includes making sure medication trolleys are not left unattended, all items are dated and signed when opened, out of date stock is removed, fridge temperatures are consistently recorded and escalated, and PRN protocols are in place for everyone who requires them. This is to ensure care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards, which state: “Any treatment or intervention that I experience is safe and effective” (HSCS 1.24).

1. To ensure people experience care from a safe and competent workforce, the provider should ensure that safer recruitment practices are consistently followed across the service. This should include, but is not limited to; ensuring that recruitment and onboarding procedures fully reflect safer recruitment guidance and obtaining and verifying appropriate employment references, including two relevant employment references where possible. This is to ensure care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards, which state: “I am confident that people who support and care for me have been appropriately and safely recruited” (HSCS 4.24).

2. The provider should ensure that staffing arrangements are safe and responsive to people’s assessed needs. Using a robust dependency tool, management should regularly assessing and reviewing individuals’ care and support needs, demonstrating how assessment outcomes inform staffing levels and deployment, and implementing quality assurance processes to evaluate people’s experiences and the effectiveness of staffing in delivering person centred care. This is to ensure care and support are consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards, which state: “My needs are met by the right number of people” (HSCS 3.15) and “I am confident that people respond promptly, including when I ask for help” (HSCS 3.17).

1. To ensure that people’s care and support needs are met effectively, the service should ensure staffing arrangements are safe. To do this, the service should, at a minimum: a) regularly assess and review people’s care and support needs b) demonstrate how the outcomes of people’s assessments are used to inform staffing numbers and arrangements c) implement quality assurance systems to evaluate people’s care experiences and assess if staffing arrangements are effective in providing responsive, person-centred support d) make the overall assessment of staffing level and deployment available to any visitors to the service and everyone using it. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: "I am confident that people respond promptly, including when I ask for help" (HSCS 3.17).

1. To promote good infection prevention and control, the provider should ensure that a standard operating procedure is put in place for the cleaning and decontamination of reusable medical devices, for example bedpans, commode pans and urinals. Ensuites must not be used for this purpose. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: "I experience an environment that is well looked after with clean, tidy and well maintained premises, furnishings and equipment" (HSCS 5.24).