Homer Lodge Care Centre

Updated 1 September 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Homer Lodge Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Homer Lodge Care Centre is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 people living at the home and 2 relatives. We spoke with 2 area managers, a senior care worker, a care worker and a housekeeper.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 1 September 2023

About the service

Homer Lodge Care Centre is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 47 people. The service provides support to people aged 65 and over. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service.

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

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.

Staff were kind and caring. They supported people’s independence and respected people’s choices. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and they had received the training and support needed to provide safe care. Staff were knowledgeable about how to keep people safe from harm and were confident to raise any concerns they had.

People received an initial and ongoing assessment of their needs and care plans reflected their individual needs. Risks to people were identified and care was planned to keep them safe. Where needed equipment was in place to support safe care. People’s wishes at the end of their lives were recorded and care was in place to keep people pain free as they neared the end of their lives.

The home was clean and staff worked to minimise the risk of cross infection. Medicines were safely managed and available to people when needed.

People were complimentary about the quality of food provided. Their abilities to eat safely and maintain a healthy weight were assessed and where needed people were referred to healthcare professionals.

The provider was updating the environment and considered people’s needs in the improvements being made.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided. This consistently identified issues and action was taken to improve the care people received. Safeguarding, incidents and complaints were investigated, and action taken to keep people safe.

The registered manager was approachable and well-liked by people living at the home, relatives and staff. Staff felt able to approach the registered manager with any issues.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (20 October 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. We issued warning notices for regulation 12 safe care and treatment and regulation 17 good governance. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.