Archived: Langdale Lodge

Updated 11 April 2017

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.

The inspection took place on 7 & 14 February 2017 and was unannounced. The inspection team comprised of one inspector and an expert by experience, who had specific experience of older people and dementia care services.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service along with notifications that we had received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We contacted Derbyshire Healthwatch and the local authority commissioning team to ask if they had any information which might inform the inspection. Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with six people who used the service and one relative. We also spoke with the registered manager who was the providers operational manager, the home manager who managed the home on a daily basis, deputy manager, one nurse, the head of care, one senior member of support staff and one support worker.

We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and how the service was managed. This included three people’s care plans staff training records, three staff recruitment records, health and safety audits and records relating to medicines.

Not all of the people living at the service were fully able to express their views about their care. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) to capture the experiences of people who may not be able to communicate their views.

Updated 11 April 2017

The inspection took place on 7 & 14 February 2017 and was unannounced. The service was last inspected on 15 March 2016 when it was in breach of Regulation 12 safe care and treatment due to unsafe practices around cleanliness and hygiene control in bathrooms and toilets. At this inspection we found standards had been met and the service was no longer in breach.

Langdale Lodge is a nursing home for up to 27 people. The home is situated in the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire. At the time of our inspection 27 people were living there. The home provides care and support for people with a range of medical and age related conditions, including mobility issues, diabetes and dementia.

There was a registered manager in post. 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’s medicines were managed safely. There were procedures in place to ensure medicines were safely stored and administered.

The provider had thorough recruitment procedures in place and only employed new staff once appropriate checks had been completed. The provider had a system of ensuring new staff participated in an induction which included a period of shadowing an experienced member of staff. New staff undertook training in a range of topics, including safeguarding and health and safety, as part of their induction. There were enough staff deployed to support and respond to people’s needs in a timely manner. The registered manager and staff team understood their roles and responsibilities.

People’s care plans and records were complete and provided staff with the information they needed to meet people’s needs. People and their relatives were happy with the care and support provided and felt their individual needs were being met.

Staff and members of the management team maintained people’s safety and protected their rights. Training was provided and included the Mental Capacity Act (2005), Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and safeguarding.

Staff knew people well and were aware of the importance of treating them with dignity and respect. Staff were kind, caring and compassionate; people’s self-esteem was promoted and staff supported and encouraged them to remain as independent as possible.

People’s nutritional needs were met and special dietary needs were catered for. People were supported to choose the food they wanted to eat. Staff understood people’s health needs and they were supported to access relevant health care professionals when this was required.

Information regarding how to make a complaint was available and complaints were dealt with swiftly. Audits were carried out to monitor the quality of care people in the home received.