Archived: Elmwood House Nursing Home

Updated 29 January 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the registered persons were meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the Provider Information Return that we asked the registered persons to complete. This is a form that asks registered persons to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. In addition, we reviewed notifications of incidents that the registered persons had sent us since the service was registered. These are events that the registered persons are required to tell us about. We also received information from local commissioners of the service and healthcare professionals. This enabled us to obtain their views about how well the service was meeting people’s needs.

We visited the service on 5 January 2016 and the inspection was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using services or caring for someone who requires this type of service.

During the inspection we spoke with 15 people who lived in the service and with four relatives. We also spoke with two nurses, a senior care worker, three care workers, the registered manager and the regional manager. We observed care in communal areas and looked at the care records for five people. In addition, we looked at records that related to how the service was managed including medicines management, staffing, training and quality assurance.

After the inspection we spoke by telephone with a further three relatives.

Updated 29 January 2016

This was an unannounced inspection carried out on 5 January 2016.

Elmwood House Nursing Home can provide accommodation, nursing care and personal care for 48 older people and people who live with dementia. There were 42 people living in the service at the time of our inspection.

There was a registered manager. 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.

Staff knew how to respond to any concerns that might arise so that people were kept safe from harm. People were helped to promote their wellbeing, steps had been taken to reduce the risk of accidents and medicines were safely managed. There were enough staff on duty and background checks had been completed before new staff were appointed.

Staff had received training and guidance and they knew how to care for people in the right way. This included being able to assist people to eat and drink enough in order to stay well. In addition, people had been supported to receive all of the healthcare assistance they needed.

The registered manager and staff were following the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). This measure is intended to ensure that people are supported to make decisions for themselves. When this is not possible the Act requires that decisions are taken in people’s best interests.

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how registered persons apply the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) under the MCA and to report on what we find. These safeguards are designed to protect people where they are not able to make decisions for themselves and it is necessary to deprive them of their liberty in order to keep them safe. In relation to this, the registered persons had taken all of the necessary steps to ensure that people’s rights were protected.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff recognised people’s right to privacy, promoted their dignity and respected confidential information.

People had received all of the care they needed including people who could become distressed and who needed reassurance. People had been consulted about the care they wanted to receive and they had been given all of the assistance they needed. Staff had supported people to express their individuality including pursuing their interests and hobbies. There was a system for resolving complaints.

Regular quality checks had been completed to ensure that people received all of the care they needed and people had been consulted about the development of the service. Staff were supported to speak out if they had any concerns because the service was run in an open and relaxed way. People had benefited from staff acting upon good practice guidance because it helped to ensure that they received care which reliably met their individual needs and wishes.