The Old Lodge Nursing Home

Updated 23 November 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

An inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

The Old Lodge Nursing Home 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service, three relatives and one friend about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of care staff, the activity co-ordinator, the cook, two student nurses, the training manager the registered manager, the provider, and the deputy manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found and we sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. This including feedback from three health care professionals, a clinical educator and end of life facilitator.

Updated 23 November 2019

About the service

The Old Lodge Nursing Home provides support and nursing care for up to 47 older people, some of whom are living with dementia, have an acquired brain injury or neurological disorder. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people living in the home.

The service is provided over two floors. There is a lounge with a conservatory and dining room on the ground floor and a lounge on the first floor. Bedrooms and bathrooms are located on both floors. The home is located in a rural area on the outskirts of the village of Etwall.

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

The registered manager and staff team were committed to developing their knowledge and working with other agencies to improve the lives of the people they supported based on best practice. All professionals we spoke with gave positive feedback about the leadership and management of the home. There were quality assurance systems in place to identify and address any shortfalls and the staff team were passionate about continually striving to improve the service. People were encouraged to share their views to support the development of the service and share concerns. Staff were proud of the service and felt well supported by the registered manager and the provider.

The staff were committed to ensuring people experienced excellent care. Positive and caring relationships had been developed between people and the staff. People felt that staff were compassionate, and they had developed meaningful relationships with them. People were treated with dignity and respect by staff who understood the importance of this.

There was an emphasis on supporting people to lead full and interesting lives. People were encouraged to have fun and enjoy a broad range of social activities. The staff were motivated and committed to provide people with personalised experiences that exceeded their expectations. Staff valued people's differences and responded to each person's wishes. People’s diversity was fully recognised and promoted by the staff; people were supported to follow their religious beliefs and to maintain important family relationships.

The registered manager encouraged staff to provide care which recognised that people were at the heart of their service. People were central to deciding how care was planned and their care was reviewed with them to ensure it reflected their wishes. Staff recognised people’s individual preferences and organised care that reflected their individual cultural preferences. People felt well looked after and supported and had developed good relationships with staff who they felt were kind and caring and were dignified and respectful when providing their care. People were supported to express their views about the support they wanted during the end of their life. Staff ensured people received dignified personalised care towards the end of their life.

People’s care needs were identified and assessed before they moved into the home to enable staff to know and understand how they wanted to be supported. Risk management plans were in place to protect people from harm and to support them to remain independent. People were not restricted due to perceived risk and supported to try new and different experiences. There were enough staff working in the home and they understood how to recognise signs of abuse and people felt safe. Incidents and accidents were reviewed, to determine if lessons could be learnt. Medicines were well managed, stored in line with national guidance and people received them at the time they expected.

People made their own decisions and staff respected the choices they made. 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 supported this practice. People had a choice of meals and were happy with the quality of the food that was cooked. Where people need a specialist diet, this was prepared in consultation with people.

People benefitted from receiving a service from staff who were well trained to support people in line with best practice guidance. The staff had support to enable them to identify personal development opportunities and to raise any concerns they had. The staff worked in partnership with health care professionals to meet people’s health care and dental care needs were met. There was a culture within the organisation of striving for excellence and assisting people to reach their maximum potential.

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 and outstanding in caring. (This report was published on 20 April 2017.)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.