The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Longlea Nursing Home

Fifield Road, Fifield, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2PG (01628) 634201

Provided and run by:
A.V. Atkinson Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

2 May 2013

During a routine inspection

People we spoke with told us staff asked their permission before providing personal care. One person commented "Staff know I like to do things for myself, they respect that." People living at the home felt safe living there and said they would tell the manager, or another staff member, if they had any concerns.

Arrangements were in place for staff to obtain and act in accordance with the consent of people who use the service. However, staff were not following those arrangements and were not always documenting people's consent to their care.

The provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. However, the provider did not have suitable arrangements in place to protect service users against the risk of unlawful or otherwise excessive restraint. The provider did not have appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines.

People were protected from unsafe or unsuitable equipment because there were systems in place to ensure equipment was properly maintained and used correctly.

In this report the name of a registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the regulated activities at this location at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a registered manager on our register. We have advised the provider of what they need to do to remove the individual's name from our register. The home has an acting manager who started working at the location in February 2013.

25 April 2012

During a routine inspection

When we visited Longlea on the 25 April 2012 we spoke with several people who live there and/or to those people responsible for them. They were positive about the care staff and nurses and told us that they treated them with respect and took account of the need to preserve dignity during personal care.They told us that the care staff and nurses were very good, that they were approachable and understood the needs of the people who live in Longlea and treated them as individuals.

They told us that they had been involved in the process of assessment of their need before they moved into the home. In most cases this had been done on their behalf by the people responsible for their care, in conjunction with health and social care professionals involved in the assessment process.

One relative and two people living in Longlea told us that they had noticed an improvement in the way the home was run in the past few months.They felt that this was because of the new interim manager. They said that they or their relative, was well-cared for and that care staff and nurses were responsive to short-term changes in their needs.

One person that we spoke with told us that they had enjoyed at trip out to Cliveden during the week and another person told us they enjoyed the 'singers' that visit the home. People we spoke with told us that they are aware that there are meetings held to discuss their view of the home and the standard of care that they experience, although several said they chose not to attend.

All of the people we spoke with told us that they felt able to approach the interim manager with any concerns that they had at any time and that, in their experience, these concerns were taken seriously.

2 September 2011

During an inspection in response to concerns

People who use the service told us they could not recall being visited by a member of staff for an assessment before moving to Longlea, but that their relatives had visited the service to see if it was appropriate for their needs. They said their relatives had also been asked to contribute to a post-admission assessment once they had moved to Longlea. They told us that there were activities for them at Longlea but that these could be more varied and more frequent. People said that their independence was respected and their care needs were adequately met by the service. One person summarised the general feeling saying: '[Longlea is] as satisfactory as somewhere could be that is not your own house.'

People said they felt safe and protected at Longlea and that their possessions were secure. They said the staff were pleasant and caring and that they were comfortable with the way they were treated. They told us the atmosphere had felt a lot better recently with the arrival of a new manager. One person said: '[Longlea] feels like it's my home.'

They told us the staff at Longlea appeared to be well trained and qualified and made the effort to provide good care. Talking about the staff one person said: 'I have every confidence in their ability to do their jobs.'

The people we spoke with told us that meetings for them to raise their concerns and issues had been stopped. They said that even when they had raised concerns at previous meetings no action had been taken. However, they said that they were very comfortable raising concerns directly with staff and that the new manager was very approachable and some issues had been resolved by discussing them with her.