Archived: Ashurst Mews

Updated 24 August 2015

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 was 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 8th July 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team comprised three inspectors.

Before the inspection we looked at information we held about the service including statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We contacted the health and social care commissioners who help place and monitor the care of people living in the home and other authorities who may have information about the quality of the service. This included Northamptonshire County Council Safeguarding Team.

During our inspection we spoke with nine people who used the service; eleven staff including registered nurses, care, domestic and activities staff, two managers, a clinical lead and a training officer plus visiting GP and a hairdresser. We were also able to speak to a number of relatives who were visiting at the time.

We looked at care records, monitoring charts and medication records for fifteen people. We also looked at six staff files which included staff recruitment and staff training records.

Updated 24 August 2015

This inspection took place on the 8th July 2015 and was unannounced.

The service is registered to provide nursing and personal care, treatment for disease, disorder or illness and diagnosis and screening for up to 55 older people. The service provides care to people who require nursing, residential care and care of people living with dementia.

At the time of our inspection there were 41 people living at the home. The premises are currently undergoing major refurbishment. This is scheduled to finish by December 2015.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 not always protected from the health and safety risks associated with the refurbishment, as staff were not always vigilant in restricting access to areas where refurbishment was taking place. People were at risk as the actions to mitigate the risks to health and safety had not always been sustained. However, the manager had a good insight of the challenges of creating a home environment whilst refurbishing the home.

Staff had recently updated their skills and knowledge in relation to safeguarding however, these processes were still being embedded in practice. The staff had learnt from recent incidents and safeguarding concerns and understood their roles in protecting people from harm. Staff gained people’s consent before care was given. The manager and staff had an understanding of meeting people’s legal rights and the correct processes were being followed regarding the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

There was enough skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs, they had been employed using appropriate recruitment processes and staff were supported to carry out their roles by means of supervision and appraisal.

People were treated with kindness and respect. There was a positive culture, staff interacted with each other and people who used the service with respect and openness. There were opportunities for people to have a say in the way that the service was run and the service responded by implementing the requested changes to their care. People knew how to make a complaint.

People’s individuality was maintained, their daily needs were planned around their preferences, and they were continually assessed for their physical and emotional needs. People had individualised plans of care to meet their needs and theses were updated regularly. People received enough food and drink to remain healthy and people were supported to receive access to health professionals. Family and friends were welcomed and people were supported by staff to take part in individual and group activities.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and there were appropriate arrangements in place for the management of medicines.