The Care Quality Commission
  • Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: St Marks House

Brook Street, Lye, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 8SN (01384) 896654

Provided and run by:
Churches Housing Association Of Dudley and District Limited

All Inspections

20 March 2014

During an inspection looking at part of the service

There were 16 people living in the service at this inspection. We looked at all of the medicine administration records and randomly selected six people's records to check that medicines had been given as prescribed. We also looked at how the service stored and managed medicines.

One person who looked after their medicines told us, 'I am happy looking after my medicines. I know what they are all for'. We found that the service enabled people to manage their own medicines following a risk assessment process.

A pharmacist from NHS Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) visited the home from January to February 2014 to support the service with safe medicine management. We were shown a copy of their last report dated 12 February 2014 which stated, 'service users can be confident that medication systems allow safe, timely and consistent access to their medications and the provider demonstrates good insight into managing their medication systems'. The Manager told us that systems for medicine management had improved. This included undertaking regular checks on medicine records to identify any problems and to ensure staff followed safe medicine procedures. At this inspection, we found improvements had been undertaken with arrangements in place to ensure that medicines were managed safely.

12 October 2013

During a routine inspection

We carried out this inspection to check on the care and welfare of people who lived at the home. We spoke with seven people and four staff members.

Records showed that consent was obtained before care and treatment was delivered. We observed staff asking people for their consent throughout the day.

We found that care was planned and delivered to meet people's needs. We observed positive interactions between staff and people. One person said, 'It's good here.'

Systems were not in place to ensure the safe handling and administration of medicines.

We found that selection and recruitment processes were consistent. One person told us, 'The staff help me and they are good.'

Complaints and comments were taken seriously. Records showed that comments from people were taken seriously.

12 April 2012

During a routine inspection

We carried out this inspection to check on the care and welfare of people using the service. We visited St Mark's on 12 April 2012. There were 15 people living in the home at the time of this visit. No one knew we would be visiting. We spoke to six people who live at St Mark's, three visiting health professionals, three staff and the registered manager.

There was a calm and pleasant atmosphere in the home. We saw people moving around freely between their bedrooms and the living areas. We saw staff treating people with respect. One person told us, "I am respected."

People who lived at the home told us that they could chose what they wanted to eat. We saw that staff and the registered manager sat and had lunch with the people who lived at the home and that it was a time to socialise.

People spent the day as they chose and were able to take part in various activities if they wanted to. One person told us, "I feel they encourage me to be independent."

We saw that people were supported with their personal care and to attend check ups with other health professionals. One visiting health professional told us, "The staff have been fantastic. They care for people. They care about their residents."

People told us that they knew who to speak to if they were not happy. Staff told us that they knew how to deal with incidents and how to keep people safe.

Staff turnover was low. Staff told us that they were well supported in their role. One member of staff said, "We give the choice to residents about the home and the way it is run. Everything is centred around the residents. They are all treated as individuals and respected for that."