Elmglade Residential Home

Updated 25 May 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This inspection was completed by one inspector and an expert by experience. 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:

Elmglade Residential Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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:

The inspection visit took place on 24 April 2019 and was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about this service including notifications the provider is required by law to send us about events and incidents involving people. We also reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection we spoke to 13 people using the service, one visiting relative and a visiting healthcare professional. We also spoke to the registered manager, the provider, the deputy manager, the activity coordinator, four care support workers and two staff responsible for cooking meals. We looked at records which included three people's care records, medicines administration records (MARs) for four people, three staff files and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 25 May 2019

About the service:

Elmglade Residential Home is a residential care home that was providing personal care to 23 older people at the time of this inspection, some of whom were living with dementia.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were satisfied with the quality of care and support they received. They told us staff were kind and caring, meeting meet their needs and respecting their choices about how they wished to be supported. Staff were patient and supported people in a dignified, respectful way which maintained their privacy and independence.

People were supported to give their views and to make decisions about the care and support they required. This helped the provider make sure care was tailored to people’s needs. People’s records were up to date and had relevant information for staff about how to provide care and support that met their needs and kept them safe. Records were kept securely to keep information about people, private and confidential. People said they felt safe with staff. Staff knew how to safeguard people from abuse and how to report any concerns to the appropriate individual and/or authority.

The home was comfortable with different spaces for people to spend time in. People’s rooms and communal areas were clean and tidy. Staff followed good practice to minimise hygiene risks when providing personal care and when preparing and handling food. The provider undertook regular health and safety checks of the premises and equipment to make sure they were safe.

Staff asked for people’s consent before providing any support. 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.

Staff helped people stay healthy and well. They supported people to eat and drink enough to meet their needs and to take their prescribed medicines. Extra help was sought for people if they needed this, for example when they became unwell. Staff worked well with other healthcare professionals to ensure a joined-up approach to the care people received.

There were enough staff to support people. The provider made sure staff were suitable to support people through their recruitment and selection practices. Staff were provided relevant training to help them meet people’s needs. The provider supported staff to continuously improve their working practices.

People knew how to make a complaint and the provider had arrangements in place to deal with this. The registered manager recorded and investigated any accidents and incidents that occurred, and kept people involved and informed of the outcome. Learning from complaints and investigations was shared with staff to help them improve the quality and safety of the support they provided.

The registered manager was well liked and respected by people and staff. They were open and honest and encouraged people, their representatives and staff to have their say about how the service could improve. They made sure all staff were clear about their duty to provide safe, high quality care and support to people.

The provider had improved those areas of the service where we had previously found concerns and breaches in legal requirements. At this inspection we saw the provider had improved systems for reporting notifications, their quality monitoring systems, their responsiveness to suggestions for improvements, activities provision and the safety, cleanliness, décor and layout of the premises.

The provider also worked proactively with other agencies to make improvements at the service. They acted on recommendations made from us and other agencies to improve the quality and safety of the service for people.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated ‘Requires Improvement’ (26 April 2018). At this inspection we found the service meet the characteristics of a good service. The service rating has improved to ‘Good’.

Why we inspected:

This inspection was planned based on the previous rating of ‘Requires Improvement’. In these instances, we return to a service within 12 months of the publication of the last report to check that the service had taken the action needed to improve.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned in line with our inspection schedule or in response to concerns.