Lady Ida Lodge

Lady Ida Lodge is an extra care scheme home which offers independent living with access to on-site assistance for people who require personal care. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people receiving this service. The service offers up to 64 apartments.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People provided mixed feedback about the reliability of their care calls. Some people described having missed calls with no prior warning and others experienced calls which were not on time. The oversight of these calls required improvement to ensure the system of recording was robust. The recruitment of staff was mostly safe.

Risks to people were not always managed well. The post falls protocol was not being followed in one case. People had risk assessments in place which explained how to reduce risks to people, but these were not being updated in response to key events.

The management of complaints was not robust. People we spoke with said they had raised complaints with regular care workers and the office staff, but these were not recorded and not always responded to.

Formal ongoing support showed training and supervision was being provided for staff, although the quality of supervision was identified by the provider as an area for improvement.

People provided mixed feedback about the quality of care provided by staff. They were largely pleased with support from regular staff, but shared examples with us around concerns over agency worker practice. People felt their privacy and dignity was respected and noted they were helped to retain their independence.

Oversight of the service was an area for improvement. A new management team had been installed in October 2022 and we saw improvements had since been made. They were aware of the ongoing challenges the service still faced.

People and staff were given opportunities to provide feedback. They gave mixed comments about whether the issues they raised were always listened to. Audits were taking place which reflected the quality of care provided.

People received their medicines as prescribed. Some people were managing their own medicines, but where staff supported others, they were trained and completed 6 competency checks before they were authorised to administer medication.

People’s healthcare needs were being met. People told us regular staff were skilled at identifying where they needed healthcare support and where needed, they helped with this being arranged.

People were mostly responsible for their own nutrition and fluids. Where staff were required to assist, this help was provided.

People had care plans which were personalised and provided guidance for staff around how people wanted to receive their care. People consistently told us they were involved in their care planning. Meaningful activities were taking place.

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.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 19 April 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the culture of the service, as well as staff and management practice. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to staffing levels in the service being sufficient to meet people’s care needs and the effective management of complaints.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.