This unannounced inspection took place on 7 April 2015. The Glow Rest Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to six older people. There were six people living at the home and one person was away on the day we visited. Some people at the home had dementia. The home was based on two floors. There were bedrooms and bathrooms on each floor.
The last inspection on 16 January 2014 was part of a themed inspection programme specifically looking at the quality of care provided to support people living with dementia to maintain their physical and mental health and wellbeing. We found the service was meeting the regulations we looked at.
The home had a registered manager at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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 safe at the home. The provider took appropriate steps to protect people from abuse, neglect or harm. Staff knew and explained to us what constituted abuse. They spoke about ensuring people had privacy for personal care, that a person had the right to refuse food and about not forcing them to eat.
Care plans showed that staff assessed the risks to people's health, safety and welfare. This helped staff to fully understand the impact risks have on a person’s care and well-being.
Regular checks of maintenance and service records were conducted. A recent food standards agency inspection gave the kitchen a rating of four. These checks helped to ensure the home and any equipment used was safe.
We observed that there were sufficient numbers of qualified staff to care for and support people and to meet their needs. Staff were always near at hand to give assistance, chat, play a game or help people when required. People were supported by staff to take their medicines when they needed them.
We saw the home was clean and free of malodours. On the day of our visit it was very warm and windows and doors were open and people were enjoying the fresh air.
Staff had a good understanding of how to meet people’s needs. People were cared for by staff who received appropriate training and support.
The service had taken appropriate action to ensure the requirements were followed for the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). These safeguards ensure that a service only deprives someone of their liberty in a safe and correct way, when it is in their best interests and there is no other way to look after them.
People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. There was fresh fruit, biscuits, cake and hot and cold drinks available to people throughout the day.
Detailed records of the care and support people received were kept. Staff took appropriate action to ensure people received the care and support they needed from other healthcare professionals.
People were supported by caring staff. We saw that staff were able to speak a variety of languages and could communicate with people in their first language if the person wanted to. We observed the atmosphere in the home was very relaxed and friendly and people treated the home as their own. Care plans and daily notes were kept securely and people’s right to privacy and independence was encouraged and supported by staff.
People’s needs had been assessed and information from these assessments had been used to plan the care and support they received. Care plans were comprehensive and had considered who the person was. This information was used to build a care plan that was tailored to a person’s individual needs.
The provider had arrangements in place to respond appropriately to people’s concerns and complaints.
On the day of our visit the manager was cooking lunch in the open plan kitchen/dining room, one person was helped with the preparation of the lunch and the washing up. This meant that people and staff were not separated and could chat easily to one another.
Previous fire safety inspections had noted areas for improvement, these had been actioned by the provider and the most recent inspection reported that all areas of the home were meeting with London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority regulations.
The provider had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. Informal surveys were conducted with people on almost a daily basis. Relatives and friends were able to speak to staff or management whenever they visited the home and could give their suggestions for changes and these would be actioned. Although there were no formal systems to monitor the quality of the service people and relatives we spoke with were happy with this system.