This was an announced inspection which took place on 14 October 2015. Holly Lodge provides accommodation with personal care for 23 older people. At the time of this inspection 20 people were living at the home. At our last inspection in October 2013 the provider was compliant with the regulations we assessed.
There was a registered manager at the home. 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.
We received a high level of praise in relation to this home. People and their relatives were positive and enthusiastic about the quality of the care they received. The registered manager and staff were motivated and committed to providing a high standard of care for people.
People felt safe and risks to their safety had been identified. People and their relatives had no concerns about their family member’s day-to-day safety. Staff knew how to support people safely and had training in how to recognise and report abuse.
Staff were recruited in a safe way. We found there were enough trained and experienced staff to support people and meet their needs in a personalised manner. Staff had good access to training, development opportunities and supervisions to enhance their skills in providing people with high quality care.
People had their medicines when they needed them and the arrangements for the management of people’s medicines was safe.
Care was focused on people’s individual needs and wishes and took into account the impact of medical conditions which affected people’s ability to express themselves.
Staff were aware of how to support people’s rights, seek their consent, respect their choices and promote their independence.
People told us they enjoyed the meals and we saw that risks to their dietary intake were known and staff supported them to eat and drink enough. People’s health was supported by access to appropriate healthcare professionals.
People and their relatives were exceptionally positive about the care provided. Our observations confirmed that staff were attentive, caring and showed compassion when supporting people. The staff were committed to a strong person centred culture which put people first. We saw that people had positive relationships with staff and were treated with respect. People and their relatives felt staff went that extra mile to provide compassionate and enabling care.
People knew how to make a complaint and were confident this would be listened to and acted upon.
People described the management of the home as very friendly and approachable. Staff felt supported by the provider who had used their audits and quality monitoring to develop the service and maintain high standards. The registered manager displayed a commitment to developing the staff team to ensure they could meet people’s needs in a proactive and caring manner.