We inspected this home on 9 March 2016. This was an unannounced Inspection. The home was registered to provide residential care and accommodation for up to 16 older people. At the time of our inspection 16 people were living at the home.
The registered manager was present during our 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 living at the home told us they felt safe. The registered provider had systems in place to protect people from the potential of abuse and harm. Staff had a clear knowledge of how to protect people and understood their responsibilities for reporting any incidents, accidents or issues of concern.
People and their relatives told us they were happy with the staffing arrangements in the home and expressed their confidence in staff. Recruitment processes in place ensured staff working at the home had the right skills, experience and qualities to support people.
We saw that people received their medicines as prescribed. However, potential for errors were noted in respect of medication administration where medicines were not needed routinely or were not in a monitored dosage system.
People were supported by staff who had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s individual needs. Staff told us they received support through induction, training and ongoing supervision.
Staff we spoke with told us they had received training in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff sought consent from people and asked their opinion of how they wanted care provided. The registered provider had appropriately identified those people who may need a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) in relation to potential restrictions. However mental capacity assessments had not been undertaken in line with MCA guidelines.
People were supported to eat and access food that they enjoyed. People were supported to access a range of health care professionals in order to maintain their health and well-being. Staff were not consistent in describing people’s needs arising from their health conditions which may have had an impact on people’s care should they have shown signs and symptoms of their condition.
People spoke to us about how caring and kind staff were towards them. We saw and people told us they felt involved in decisions for how they were cared for. People told us they were encouraged to remain as independent as possible in all elements of their daily lives. We observed staff ensuring people’s privacy and dignity was maintained.
People were consulted about all aspects of the initial planning of their care and in relation to the daily routines they preferred. People and their relatives were not always involved or contributed to the reviewing of their individual needs. People told us activities provided were of particular interest to them and were activities they enjoyed.
Procedures were in place to support people and their relatives to raise any complaints. Plans were in place to ensure that any informal concerns raised would be recorded and utilised to improve the service.
All of the people and staff we spoke with were very complimentary about their experience of the home and the quality of the leadership. Staff told us that they were well supported by management. There were systems in place for monitoring the quality and safety of the home however these were not always utilised to drive improvements within the home.