Archived: Dorothy Terry House

Updated 29 July 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 30 June 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert-by-experience who had expertise in older people’s care.

An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

As part of this inspection we reviewed information we held about the service provided at the home. This included statutory notifications that had been submitted. Statutory notifications include important events and occurrences which the provider is required to send us by law.

We spoke with nine people who lived at the home, and three relatives. We observed how staff supported people throughout the day. As part of our observations we 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.

We spoke with the manager and five members of staff including team leaders and a cook. We also spoke with a visiting healthcare professional. We looked at two records about people’s care and one staff file. We also looked at training records and quality assurance audits that were completed.

Updated 29 July 2015

The inspection was unannounced and took place on 30 June 2015.

Dorothy Terry House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for a maximum of 15 people. There were 11 people living at the home on the day of the inspection. People were living within their own flats in a newly built complex.

There was no registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. The manager who had been in post since November 2014 had recently applied to become registered and was going through the process. 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.

At our last inspection in June 2014 we found the provider was not meeting the regulations in relation to the management of medicines. Following the inspection in June 2014 the provider sent us an action plan telling us about the improvements they had made to meet the regulation. We found that these improvements had been made. People’s medicines were managed safely and suitable storage was in place.

People who lived at the home said they felt safe living there and told us that they liked the staff. Staff were respectful and upheld people’s privacy and dignity. Staff demonstrated an understanding of the actions they would need to take if they witnessed or suspected abuse.

People were supported by staff who had received training to make sure they had the skills and knowledge needed to care for them. Staff knew about people’s care needs and the risks associated with their care. People’s care was regularly reviewed. Sufficient staff were on duty to meet people’s needs and people were able to maintain their interests and hobbies.

People told us they liked the food and were support to drink sufficient fluid. The atmosphere in the home was relaxed and friendly.

Care was provided with people’s consent or following the application of suitable arrangements for decisions to be made. People had access to doctors when needed although some people were not able to access a dentist.

People were aware of their right to complain about the service provided. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service.