Avon Park Residential Home

Avon Park Residential Home is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 28 people. The service provides support to both older and younger adults including some people in the early stages of their dementia journey. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people using the service.

The premises were a purpose built two storey care home. The upper floor was accessed by stairs and a stair lift. There were several communal areas where people could spend time and a large accessible garden.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives were supported by staff trained in safeguarding and in all aspects of their caring role. Risks were assessed and actions taken to minimise them. Regular checks and servicing of equipment and systems ensured the premises were safe. Medicines were safely managed, and staff were trained and had annual updates and competency checks to ensure they were safely administering them. The premises were very clean and there was regular additional cleaning of high frequency touch points. Staff were safely recruited and there were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs.

Staff completed online and face to face training sessions in a wide range of areas. Supervision took place regularly and was supportive and developed the skills and knowledge of staff. People were assessed before admission to the service and care plans devised with them and reviewed monthly. People mostly enjoyed the meals provided. We have made a recommendation that for the training for catering staff be reviewed to ensure this covers best practice guidance in relation to preparing specialist diets. The provider referred to health and social care professionals as needed and a home visit service provided medical appointments as needed. 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.

Staff knew most people well and could chat with them about their previous lives and family for example. Staff were kind and caring when interacting with people and took time to put people at ease. People were involved in making decisions about their care and supported with communication. Staff recognised non-verbal communication in people.

People participated in an activity programme however some people chose not to and staff took time to chat with them in their rooms instead. Information was supplied to people in the most appropriate format for their needs. There was a complaints procedure that people were supplied with on admission however there had been no recent complaints as issues were addressed as they happened. The provider worked in partnership with community nurses to support people at the end of life and had, if people were willing to, devised end of life care plans.

The registered manager and nominated individual were well-liked and visible throughout the service. They had an open-door policy and regularly asked for feedback from people and relatives. The provider continually strived to improve care delivery and worked with other health and social care agencies and professionals to achieve this.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service under the previous legal entity was Good, published on 18 May 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.