Pendennis Residential Care Home

Pendennis Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 22 people. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people using the service.

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

People told us they were happy living at the service, and they felt safe. Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm.

Risks to people's safety were assessed and managed. People were supported by staff who knew their needs well and knew how to manage risks associated with their care.

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.

Medicines were managed safely by staff who had received the appropriate training. There were enough staff, who had been recruited safely to support people and meet their needs.

There was a positive person-centred culture at the service which ensured good outcomes for people. Governance systems and processes were in place to measure the quality of care and drive improvement.

People, relatives and staff were asked for feedback about the service in order to continuously develop and improve the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 8 December 2018).

Why we inspected

This focused inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Pendennis Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

At the time of our inspection there were 22 people living at the home.

We last inspected the home in March 2016 and rated the service as 'Good.' At this inspection we found the service remained 'Good'. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns.

This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our visit. 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 and their relatives were positive about the care and support provided at Pendennis. They said staff treated people respectfully and in a kind and caring manner.

People felt safe at the home and appropriate referrals were being made to the safeguarding team when this had been necessary.

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 home supported this practice.

Individual care and support needs were assessed, documented and reviewed at regular intervals.

People were assisted by suitable numbers of staff who were trained and supported in their job roles. Staff members had been safely recruited and had received an induction to the service.

People's healthcare needs were being met and medicines were being stored and managed safely.

Staff knew about people's dietary needs and preferences. People told us there was a choice of meals and said the food was good. There were plenty of drinks and snacks available for people in between meals.

Activities were on offer to keep people occupied both on a group and individual basis. Visitors were made to feel welcome and could have a meal at the home if they wished.

People and their friends felt able to raise any concerns or complaints. There was a procedure in place for people to follow if they wanted to raise any issues.

The home continued to be well led. The management team promoted open communication with people, their relatives and healthcare professionals involved in their care. The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and where issues were identified they acted to make improvements.

We found all the fundamental standards were being met. Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Pendennis Residential Home is a care home for older people some of whom may be physically frail or living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 22 people living at Pendennis.

The home had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were knowledgeable about people living at the home and understood how to meet their diverse needs. We observed warmth and affection between staff and people who used the service. People were treated with dignity and respect.

People told us they felt safe at Pendennis and staff told us they would report any concerns to the

registered manager. Systems and processes were in place to ensure that people were protected from abuse and improper treatment.

We found the home was clean and odour free. Bedrooms had been personalised and communal areas were comfortably furnished. The home was well maintained and equipment had been serviced to make sure they were safe to use.

Recruitment processes were robust and thorough checks were always completed to make sure staff were safe and suitable to work in the care sector before they started work at the home. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and they were given appropriate training such as how to support people living with dementia.

There were enough staff on duty to make sure people's care needs were met. People told us they liked the staff and found them kind and caring. On the day of our visit we saw people looked well cared for. We saw staff speaking calmly and respectfully to people who used the service.

Staff respected people's dignity. Staff described how they protected people's dignity by closing curtains and doors and covering people with towels when they were washing them. People were supported to be as independent as possible. Care staff told us they always asked people if they wished to do things for themselves and supported people where they were unable to do so.

Where ever possible, people were involved in decisions about their care and were offered choices. People told us they and their relatives had been involved in their plan of care and had participated in six monthly reviews.

People had care plans that clearly explained how they would like to receive their care and support. Care plans were regularly updated and amended where necessary to meet peoples changing needs. Care plans included an assessment of people’s needs and were written to reflect people’s individual preferences and wishes. They told us they had read and understood the care plans and ensured they followed them.

People were supported to take their medicines. Systems were in place to ensure that medicines were managed safely. We saw that there were appropriate

procedures in place for the receipt, storage and administration of medicines. Staff received regular competency assessment checks to ensure the on-going safe management of medicines.

Staff ensured that refferals were made to healthcare services in a timely way to make sure people's health care needs were met.

The meal time experience was a relaxed and social occasion. People told us meals at the home were good and offered both choice and variety.

There were a range of activities on offer to keep people occupied and the home had set up an “activities room” that had alternating themes such as a pet shop, grocers and an office which was furnished from items from earlier eras to engage people and their visitors. People were supported to take part in a variety of activities. Whilst we were there we observed a number of activities including group sessions and also people having individual activities more suited to their needs and preferences.

The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Applications had been submitted to the local authority for assessment and authorisation where necessary. Capacity assessments had been carried out and decisions taken in the best interests of people were documented.

Visitors said they were made to feel welcome at any time and were very positive about the care their relatives received.

There was a positive and open culture within the service. Staff said they felt able to raise concerns, and were confident they would be responded to. People and staff were happy with the service and praised the manager.

There was a complaints procedure in place and we saw where concerns had been raised these had been dealt with appropriately.

We saw there were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. When areas for improvement were identified action was taken to address these shortfalls.

People using the service were asked for their views and were able to influence the way the service was managed.

We noted that staff gave people time to make decisions and questions were asked in an appropriate way for the person to understand. The care plans we looked at were detailed and contained information relevant to the person's needs.

We asked people if they felt safe and were told "oh yes, it's warm and cosy here, the girls look after me". Another said "there is always a smile".

We looked at staff training files and saw that they were detailed and showed what training had been undertaken and what was necessary to be completed. A system was in place to identify when training needed updating and evidence that this was booked was shown to us.

The service had a nice friendly atmosphere. The house was warm and cosy and the staff friendly and engaging. The people who lived at the home told us " we're like a big happy family".

We saw that plans of care, treatment and support are implemented flexibly, regularly reviewed and kept up to date in recognition of the changing needs of the people using the service.

We saw that all the relevant safety and maintenance checks had been completed. We saw environmental risk assessments and we saw that there were good security arrangements for the building. This showed us that there were clear procedures for the identification, assessment and management of risks and that people were protected against the risks of unsafe premises and were happy with the environment.

We found that there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.

We saw that there was a complaints procedure available for people who lived at the home. This had accurate information about how to complain to the management of the home and also how to raise a concern externally.