The Lilacs Residential Home

Updated 8 February 2022

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.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 21 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 8 February 2022

About the service

The Lilacs Residential Home is a residential care home providing personal care and registered to support up to 29 people. There were 28 people living at the service at the time of the inspection. Nursing care can be provided through the local community nursing services if appropriate.

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

People and their relatives gave us positive feedback about the quality of care and staff approach. We observed many caring interactions and people were treated with dignity and respect by kind and caring staff. Staff knew people well and understood how to care for them in a personalised way. Some staff had worked at the service for many years. Care plans were in a new computerised format and were informative and regularly reviewed to support staff.

People were supported to have 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.

People enjoyed a range of activities and some trips on offer. There was an activities programme, and people were encouraged to join sessions that stimulated both their mind and kept them physically active. The registered manager was continuing to develop dementia-friendly activity provision and reviewing activity records to further ensure each persons’ leisure needs were consistently met.

People had a choice of where they spent their time and were supported to remain as independent as possible. The environment was homely and clean, recently re-furbished and well maintained. People enjoyed the meals, drinks and snacks throughout the day and their dietary needs and preferences were met. One staff member regularly made home made soup for people who said they enjoyed this.

People's needs had been assessed and planned for before they moved into the service and kept under review. Staff supported people to access support from healthcare services when needed. A community nurse told us, “Staff are pro-active. They always do what is asked quickly and follow up advice. It’s one of my favourite care homes to come to.”

People received their medicines when they needed them from appropriately trained staff. People received safe care. There were enough staff to support them and they were recruited to ensure that they were safe to work with people. People were protected from the risk of harm and potential abuse. There were systems to analyse when things went wrong to understand the cause and try to avoid repetition.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of service being provided. People, their relatives and health professionals were involved in people's care. People and staff had the opportunity to give their views on the service through quality assurance surveys, supervision and team meetings, which were used to drive improvement.

People and their relatives felt the service was managed well and that the registered manager and staff were approachable. Management felt well supported by the new provider. There was a complaints policy and we saw that procedures were followed when dealing with complaints about the service so that a positive outcome was achieved.

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 19 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.