Archived: Kings Lynn Residential Home

Updated 21 January 2017

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 provider is 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.

This inspection took place on 23 and 25 November 2016 and was unannounced. This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about the home, such as the notifications they had sent us. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law.

We spoke with 13 people using the service and with one visitor. We also spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager and five staff members during our visit.

We spent time observing the interaction between staff and people living at the home. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We looked at the care records for seven people, and we also looked at the medicine management process. We also reviewed the records maintained by the home in relation to staff training and how the provider monitored the safety and quality of the service.

Updated 21 January 2017

This inspection took place on 23 and 25 November 2016 and was unannounced. Kings Lynn Residential Home is a care home providing personal care for up to 36 people, some whom live with dementia. On the day of our visit 33 people were living at the home.

The home has had the current registered manager in post since February 2015. 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 were aware of safeguarding people from the risk of abuse and they knew how to report concerns to the relevant agencies. They assessed individual risks to people and took action to reduce or remove them. There was adequate servicing and maintenance checks to fire equipment and systems in the home to ensure people’s safety.

People felt safe living at the home and staff supported them in a way that they preferred. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs and the registered manager took action to obtain additional staff when there were sudden shortages. Recruitment checks for new staff members had been made before new staff members started work to make sure they were safe to work within care.

People received their medicines when they needed them, and staff members who administered medicines had been trained to do this safely. Staff members received other training, which provided them with the skills and knowledge to carry out their roles. Staff received adequate support from the registered manager and senior staff, which they found helpful.

The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. The home was meeting the requirements of DoLS. The registered manager had acted on the requirements of the safeguards to ensure that people were protected. Where someone lacked capacity to make their own decisions, the staff were making these for them in their best interests.

People enjoyed their meals and were able to choose what they ate and drank. They received enough food and drink to meet their needs. Staff members contacted health professionals to make sure people received advice and treatment quickly if needed.

Staff were caring, kind, respectful and courteous. Staff members knew people well, what they liked and how they wanted to be treated. They responded to people’s needs well and support was always available. Care plans contained enough information to support individual people with their needs. People were happy living at the home and staff supported them to be as independent as possible.

A complaints procedure was available and people knew how to and who to go to, to make a complaint. The registered manager was supportive and approachable, and people or other staff members could speak with them at any time.

Good leadership was in place and the registered manager and provider monitored care and other records to assess the risks to people and ensure that these were reduced as much as possible and to improve the quality of the care provided.