- Care home
The Royal Elms Care Home
Report from 2 August 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
The assessment took place between 5 August 16 August 2024. The Royal Elms is a care home. It is registered to provide personal care for up to 26 older people, with 24 people living at the service during our assessment. We had received concerns about medicines, the cleanliness and management of the home. A decision to assess the service was made. We reviewed the quality statements associated with these concerns. We did not find evidence to support the concerns raised. We did find some issues relating to care plans and risk assessments which lacked information to guide staff about people’s support needs. The registered manager updated these during the assessment. Staff were busy and there were periods of time when staff were not able to be present in communal areas. Staff did not have the time to arrange day to day activities to engage people. Special occasions were celebrated. Staff said they enjoyed working at the home and felt well supported by the registered manager. They were able to raise any issues with the management team and felt listened to. Staff recruitment procedures were not always robust around verifying references and ensuring gaps in employment were explained. Staff received training for their role. We discussed the frequency of refresher training and whether further courses in meeting some people’s specific needs were needed. People received their medicines as prescribed. More details were needed in some records to fully understand how people communicated if they needed as required medicines. The use of thickeners to reduce the risk of choking were not always recorded. We observed positive interactions between people and staff. However, we also observed 1 member of staff standing over the person while they were supporting to eat their meal. Governance systems were in place and any issues they identified were actioned. However, the audits had not identified the issues we found during the assessment. A programme of refurbishment was in place.
People's experience of this service
People and their relatives were happy with the care and support they received at The Royal Elms. They said the staff were kind and caring, knew their needs well and supported them to stay safe. Communication with the home was good, with relatives being able to easily contact the registered manager or deputy managers. The home contacted relatives if there was any change in people’s support needs or wellbeing. Relatives said they had been involved in agreeing people’s care and support when they first moved to the home. They had also been asked about people's preferences, likes and dislikes. All said the home was clean.