Garden House

Updated 24 September 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out 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

Garden House is a ‘care home.’ People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We also contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service, four relatives, a visitor, the registered manager, deputy manager, six day care staff, five night staff, the activities coordinator and the cook.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We also spoke with a health professional.

Updated 24 September 2019

About the service

Garden House is a care home which provides personal care and accommodation for up to 36 older people. At the time of the inspection, there were 35 people living at the home.

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

There were systems and procedures in place to help protect people from the risk of abuse. Checks were carried out to make sure the building and equipment were safe. The environment was clean and met people’s needs. Further moving and handling equipment was purchased following our inspection, to ensure that people had their own equipment where required, to help reduce the risk of cross infection.

There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people’s needs. We identified several shortfalls regarding the recording of medicines which the registered manager told us would be addressed. We have made a recommendation about this.

People were supported by staff who were trained to meet their needs. We observed that some staff were more skilled than others when communicating with people who had a dementia related condition. Staff were currently undertaking additional dementia care training at the time of our inspection. People were complimentary about the meals and the assistance provided. The provider used a specialist frozen food company to supply their main meals.

People were supported to have maximum 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 and relatives spoke positively about the home and the care which was provided. One person told us, “I’m very happy here and would recommend it.” People had a care plan which guided staff on how to deliver person centred care. There was an activities programme in place which met people's social needs.

There was a complaints procedure in place. A record of actions taken to address complaints and concerns was maintained.

During our inspection, several staff raised concerns about certain practices at the home which we passed to the registered manager. She carried out unannounced visits during the night/early morning, however, no concerns were identified. We have made a recommendation that the provider monitors the culture in the service.

A range of audits were carried out. During our inspection, we identified shortfalls with medicines recording which the provider’s quality monitoring system had not identified.

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 26 January 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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