Archived: Driftwood House

Driftwood House is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 21 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 28 people. The accommodation is located over two floors with communal living room and dining room on the ground floor.

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

Systems and processes to manage the quality of care were not always robust. Risk assessments sometimes lacked detail on action to take to manage risks and audits did not always include detail about which records had been checked. We found some equipment in use that had not been removed from service due to damage. The manager took immediate action to remedy this. However, this damage and potential risks to people had not been identified by the service’s own monitoring processes.

There was a very warm and welcoming environment in the home, staff knew people well and understood their needs. People, their relatives and staff were very positive about the manager and described the home as being ‘like a family.’

People told us they felt safe living at the service. People received their medicines as they were prescribed. The service was clean and had infection prevention and control measures in place to manage risks associate with Covid 19.

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 (published 25 March 2019) and there was a breach of Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. However, we found there needed to be improvements made to some of the checks on the quality of care and the provider was in breach of Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of risk and the management of medicines. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The overall rating for the service has remained the same. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what further action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Driftwood House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will continue to monitor the progress made to improve. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

People’s experience of using this service:

People’s medicines were not always managed safely. Cleaning products were not always securely stored to prevent possible injury to people.

People and their relatives were positive about the registered manager and the owners of the service. There was a positive caring culture within the service. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service provision and to make any necessary improvements when shortfalls were identified, however these were not effective during the registered managers absence.

People and their relatives were complimentary about the care provided at Driftwood House. The environment was clean and comfortable.

People received effective care from staff who understood how to recognise and report issues of concern and potential abuse.

People were supported by sufficient and competent staff who knew people well and cared for them according to their needs and preferences.

The registered manager and staff were encouraged to maintain and develop their knowledge and skills.

Staff respected people's privacy and dignity and interacted with people in a caring and compassionate way.

People's health was well managed and staff had positive relationships with professionals which promoted people’s wellbeing.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were encouraged to maintain their independence and to make their own choices about where they spent their time and how. People were offered activities which they had the opportunity to join in.

The owners of the service had a visible presence and provided good support to the registered manager.

There was a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This was due to medicines management and unsafe storage of cleaning products.

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

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 28 September 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement: Please see the ‘action we have told the provider to take’ section towards the end of the report.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor all intelligence received about the service to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.

Driftwood House provides accommodation and residential care for up to 28 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, the home was providing support to 22 people.

The home had a registered manager in post. 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.

People were safe living at Driftwood House and there were enough staff to meet their needs. Effective systems were in place to help keep people safe. Staff had received appropriate support and training which enabled them to identify the possibility of abuse and take appropriate actions to report and escalate concerns. Risks to people were assessed in detail, and plans to mitigate risk were responsive to people’s needs and managed appropriately. There were safe staff recruitment practices in place and appropriate recruitment checks were conducted before staff started work. This ensured people were supported by staff that were suitable for their role.

There were systems in place to monitor the safety of the environment and equipment used within the home, minimising risks to people. Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely.

There were processes in place to ensure new staff were inducted into the home appropriately and staff received regular training, supervision and appraisals. Staff were aware of the importance of gaining consent for the support they offered people. The registered manager and staff were able to demonstrate their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards legislation.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to a range of health and social care professionals when required. People received enough to eat and drink to meet their individual needs.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the needs of the people they supported and could describe people’s preferences as to how they liked to be supported. Staff spoke with and treated people in a respectful and caring manner and interactions between people, their relatives and staff were relaxed and friendly.

People received care and treatment in accordance with their identified needs and wishes. Care plans documented information about people's personal history, choices and preferences, preferred activities and ability to communicate. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity. People were supported to engage in a range of activities that met their needs and reflected their interests.

The atmosphere in the home was open, friendly and welcoming and the registered manager and staff were approachable. Visiting professionals found the registered manager and staff to be approachable and easy to work with.

There were systems and processes in place to monitor and evaluate the quality of the service provided. There was a complaints policy and procedure in place.

People received the care and support they required to improve their health and well-being. Care records were in the process of being updated and those that had been updated had been written in detail and provided clear guidance to staff members.

Medicines were not stored safely and checks were not maintained to show all storage areas were kept at the correct temperature. Administration records were kept, although people did not always receive their medicines from staff who had received appropriate training. We found that secondary dispensing was being carried out. This was an unsafe practice as the staff member administering the medicine did not have sight of the original container and therefore could not guarantee that they were giving the correct medicines.

Staff members had not all received supervision and training from the provider or from external sources to ensure they had the skills and support to properly carry out their roles and care for people.

The people we spoke with said that they received the right level of care to meet their needs. One person told us, 'If you can't do something they (the staff) will soon do it for you.' However, we found that there was a lack of assessments and care plans, which could result in people receiving inappropriate or unsafe care.

People using the service told us that they thought there were enough staff on duty. One person confirmed that they did not have to wait long when they needed help. Another person said that staff tried to make time to talk.

People we spoke with told us that they had never had cause for complaint but, if they should need to in the future, they knew who to speak with. People told us they felt confident that any complaints would be dealt with.