We carried out a review of the data available to us about Susan Day Residential Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Susan Day Residential Home, you can give feedback on this service.
People’s experience of using this service: People had a good experience when living at South Lodge. They were encouraged to engage in how the service was run and to express their views freely, such as in relation to food and menu choices.
People received the care and support they needed, although staff were considered to be rushed at certain times.
Staff were skilled, experienced, knowledgeable and supported in their work.
People’s safety was fully promoted. All aspects of the service were under regular review.
People’s health and care needs were met and their care planned in detail with them.
There was effective leadership and a strong culture of promoting dignity and respect.
Activities were provided which people enjoyed and engaged with if they wished. Relationships were supported through visits and social media.
The service was very clean and fresh and the premises well maintained.
For more details, please see the full report which is on CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Good (30 August 2016)
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.
South Lodge, also known locally as Susan Day Care Home and is registered to provide care and support for up to 33 older people. It does not provide nursing care. At the time of the inspection there were 33 people living at the service.
The service had a registered manager in place who is due to retire in April 2017. They have appointed another manager who will be applying to Care Quality Commission (CQC) to become the registered manager. They will begin work in October 2016, so there is a good amount of time for a handover. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People were very positive about living at the service. Comments included ‘‘I made my own decision to come here as I knew it had a good reputation. The staff are brilliant, very good, very helpful, couldn’t ask for better.’’
People were supported to express their views and were involved in decision making about their care and were offered day to day choices. Staff sought people’s consent for care and treatment and ensured they were supported to make decisions in their day to day lives.
People felt able to make their views known, they were valued and included in the running of the service. This included some people being involved in the interview process for new staff. Any issues identified were acted upon to ensure the service was continually improving. For example when people said they did not like the runner beans. The registered manager asked how they preferred them to be cooked and invited some of them to help prepare the vegetable for the roast dinner.
Care and support was well planned to ensure every aspect of people’s needs, including any risks were clearly identified. Staff understood people’s needs and knew how to support people in a way which honoured their wishes and preferred routines. Staff felt valued and had training and support to do their job effectively.
Staff were motivated and inspired to provide the best care. It was clear the ethos of the service to provide a homely high quality care service, had been embraced and embedded in everyday practice.
People were protected because staff understood how to identify potential abuse and who they should report this to. Staff also knew how to identify risks to people and what they should to reduce risks as far as possible to keep people safe.
Staff recruitment processes ensured only staff who were suitable to work with vulnerable people were employed. New staff were given an induction programme to help them understand their role and the running of the home. All staff were supported with one to one supervisions and appraisals to help identify good practice and areas of learning.
People were given a good range and choice of meals, drinks and snacks to ensure they maintained good health. Mealtimes were relaxed and social. The cook understood how to provide additional calories for those who needed this and had a good knowledge of people’s likes and dislikes.
People’s medicines were being well managed and people were supported to manage their own medicines, where assessed as safe to do so.
People were supported by kind and compassionate staff. People and relatives spoke highly about the skills and attitude of staff working at the service. One said ‘‘Staff are very kind here, they are always lovely.’’
The service had received a high number of compliments about the kindness showed by staff. One said ‘‘We really appreciate all the support and kindness and now know why local people speak so highly about this home.’’
Well established systems ensured the home was well maintained, records were kept up to date and medicines management was robust.
We looked at four care plans and daily records and saw care and support was being well planned. People were asked for their consent to any care and support and their preferred routines were honoured. For example we spoke with one person who liked to get up later and to another who was an early riser. Both said staff made sure their support was at a time that suited their preferences.
There was a robust medication system in place and people received medication on time. People who could manage their own medication were encouraged to maintain their independence, whist risks were assessed to ensure they were safe doing so.
The recruitment process was robust and made sure people were protected from the risks of employing staff who may not be suitable to work with vulnerable people. This was because the service made sure the right checks and references were in place before a new staff member commenced work at the home.
The service had systems in place to ensure the views of people living in the home and those of the staff, were obtained and used to review the quality of care.
The service was fully compliant with all five outcomes we inspected.
People told us what it was like to live at the home and described how they were treated by staff and their involvement in making choices about their care. They also told us about the quality and choice of food and drink available. This was because this inspection was part of a themed inspection programme to assess whether older people living in care homes are treated with dignity and respect and whether their nutritional needs are met.
The inspection team was led by a CQC inspector joined by Expert by Experience; people who have experience of using services and who can provide that perspective.
Almost all of the people currently living at South Lodge were able to express their views. We only therefore used our SOFI (Short Observational Framework for Inspection) tool for a very short time. The SOFI tool allowed us to spend time watching what was going on in the service and helped us to record how people spent their time, the type of support they got and whether they had positive experiences.
People we spoke with were very positive about the care and support they received. Comments included 'wonderful', 'very kind and helpful', 'very, very good'. They described themselves as 'very fortunate to be here', 'couldn't be any better.'
People we spoke with about the food and choices available to them were overall very positive.
We found that there were sufficient qualified and experienced staff available to meet people's needs. We observed care and support being delivered in a kind and respectful way.
We found that records were accurate, up to date and kept confidential.