Archived: Goldendale House

Updated 25 January 2018

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 12 and 13 December 2017 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the service in the key questions of safe, effective and well led. We found that improvements had been made to these areas and to the quality of care provided.

We used the information we held about the service to formulate our inspection plan. This included information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed other information we held about the service. This included statutory notifications that the provider had sent to us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. These include information about safeguarding concerns, serious injuries and deaths that had occurred at the service. We also considered feedback received from local authority commissioners and the fire service about the services provided at Goldendale House.

We spoke with three people who used the service and six relatives. We did this to gain people's views about the care and to check that standards of care were being met. We also spoke with four members of care staff and four visiting healthcare professionals. We spoke with the registered manager and one of the providers.

Some people who used the service were not able to speak to us about their care experiences so we observed how the staff interacted with people in communal areas and we looked at the care records of eleven people who used the service, to see if their records were accurate and up to date. We also used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We also looked at records relating to the management of the service. These included five staff files, training records, improvement plans and quality assurance records.

Updated 25 January 2018

This inspection took place on 12 and 13 December 2017 and was unannounced.

At the last inspection the service was rated as requires improvement. We found the provider was not meeting all the requirements of the law. The provider had not ensured that people were always safeguarded from abuse and had not ensured that requirements of the law were followed in relation to people’s consent to their care and treatment. We had also not received notifications that the provider is required to send us by law.

Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to ensure they were meeting the regulations. During this inspection we found that the provider had done what they said they would do and were no longer in breach of the regulations.

Goldendale House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Goldendale House accommodates up to 42 people in one adapted building. At the time of this inspection there were 35 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of the 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.

People were protected from avoidable abuse and harm by trained staff. Risks were assessed, identified and managed appropriately, with guidance for staff on how to mitigate risks. Premises and equipment were managed safely and were kept clean and tidy. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people's needs and staff had their suitability to work in a care setting checked before they began working with people. Medicines were managed safely. The registered manager had systems in place to learn when things went wrong.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice. People were supported by trained staff and received effective care in line with their support needs. Staff received regular supervision and observations of their competency. There was a good choice of food, which people enjoyed and they received support to meet their nutrition and hydration needs. The environment was designed to support people effectively. Healthcare professionals were consulted as needed and people had access to a range of healthcare services.

Staff were kind, caring and compassionate with people. People were supported to express their views and encouraged and supported to make their own choices. People were treated with dignity and respect and their independence was respected and promoted.

Staff understood people and their needs and preferences were assessed and regularly reviewed. Activities were organised by staff and people were supported to participate in activities that were meaningful to them. People's cultural needs were considered as part of the assessment and care planning process. Complaints were managed in line with the provider's policy. Where required people received good support, in line with their wishes at the end of their lives.

A registered manager was in post and was freely available to people, relatives and staff, along with the provider. People, their relatives and staff were involved in the development of the service and they were given opportunities to provide feedback that was acted upon. We found the registered manager and providers had systems in place to check on the quality of the service people received and use this to make improvements.