Archived: Montrose

Updated 13 October 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 5 August 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service. This included notifications regarding safeguarding, accidents and changes in the service. At the time of the inspection a Provider Information Record (PIR) had not been requested. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. In order to gain further information about the service we spoke with two people living at the home and two visiting relatives. We also spoke with seven members of staff.

We looked around the home and observed care practices throughout the inspection. We looked at five people’s care records and the care they received. We reviewed records relating to the running of the service such as staffing records, environmental risk assessments and quality monitoring audits.

We contacted a representative of the local authority’s contract monitoring team and the care commissioning group involved in the care of people living at the home to obtain their views on the service.

Observations, where they took place, were from general observations. We also used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 13 October 2015

Montrose Care Home was last inspected on 01/10/2013 and found to be meeting the regulations. A registered manager was in post that supported us at this inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

Montrose Care Home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 21 older people.

The provider had systems in place to ensure the quality of the service was regularly reviewed and improvements were made. The care and support people received were regularly audited and areas for improvement recognised. Staff knew people’s needs; the records relating to people’s care and support were kept up to date.

People told us that the staff met their care needs well. One person told us “The staff look after me well and I have plenty of friends here. They know what I like and treat me with a great deal of kindness”. We observed this to be the case.

Staff knew people’s routines and respected them. One person told us “I like to spend time on my own; the staff know this and only come to make sure I am alright if I use my call bell”. Staff knew how to support people when they became anxious and had effective ways of addressing this.

The provider was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and assessments of people’s capacity had consistently been made. Staff understood some of the concepts of the Act, such as allowing people to make decisions. Staff demonstrated that they could apply this to everyday life.

Staff demonstrated a caring and compassionate approach to people living at the home. People were offered choices at mealtimes such as where to sit and what to eat. The provider had a system to offer choice of what to eat during mealtimes that was effective.

People told us there was enough staff to meet their needs. The provider was able to demonstrate that extra staff were available to support people should their needs change or if extra support was required.

People told us they felt supported at the home and safe in the company of staff. The staff told us they worked well as a team and enjoyed working at the home. They told us there was enough flexibility within their working hours to sit and talk with people and to do things with them that they knew interested them. We observed this to be the case during the inspection.