Princess Christian Residential and Nursing Care Home

The service is divided into three separate living areas, depending on people's needs and dependency. We inspected all three living areas as part of this inspection.

Innovative and inventive practices were in place to meet people's holistic needs from well trained staff who were happy in their role. This had resulted in exceptional outcomes to some people in relation to their health and well-being, including someone being able to walk again and another person to regain their independence at mealtimes.

The service had a creative way of training clinical staff which meant they did not spend a long time trying to recruit nurses into the service. The service was accredited by a national body to run courses to support clinical staff to achieve the necessary qualifications.

There were champions within the service who actively supported staff to provide outstanding care when people were at the end of their life. This meant people were enabled to live well until they die. As an outcome of their work, Princess Christian was invited to roll out their good practice to other services within the borough.

People's lives were improved by staff. People's well-being was promoted through the staff's consistent and high level of care.

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.

There were sufficient staff to care for people and people felt cared for in a respectful, kind and supportive way. People felt safe living at Princess Christian and told us they received the medicines they required.

People lived in an environment which was suitable for them and promoted independence through the use of signage and equipment. The environment was well-maintained and clean, housekeeping staff working continuously in ensuring the environment was neat and tidy.

People told us staff were kind and caring and they could make their own decisions. People said there were things for them to do and they had access to an outside space. Where people had individual communication requirements, staff were aware of these.

People's care plans contained good information for staff, although we found some that required additional information. The shortfalls we found were addressed immediately. The impact to people was low as clinical and care staff knew people's needs very well. Those people at the end of their lives were provided with care in line with the Gold Standard Framework for end of life care.

The culture within the service was positive, people and their families felt the service was well-managed. People, their families and staff were supported to be involved in the service and staff told us they enjoyed their jobs.

The registered manager knew people well and was always looking for ways to improve the service. He worked well with external agencies to provide suitable and good quality care for people.