Archived: Oak Park Care Home

Updated 22 June 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 16 and 18 May 2017 and was unannounced. The membership of the inspection team included two adult social care inspectors and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service with expertise in dementia care.

We reviewed information we had received from the provider such as statutory notifications. We also contacted Healthwatch to see if they had received any information about the provider or if they had conducted a recent ‘enter and view’ visit. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We contacted the local authority commissioning and monitoring team, infection control teams and reviewed all the safeguarding information regarding the service.

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 observed the lunch time meal experience in two of the communal dining areas and observed care interventions throughout the inspection process. We reviewed six care files and daily records for people living there. We also reviewed the maintenance and audit records for the home and records relating to staff and their training and development.

We spoke with 12 people who lived at Oak Park and four relatives who were visiting during our inspection. We spoke with the director, the registered manager, the deputy manager, two care staff, the chef, and the activities coordinator.

Updated 22 June 2017

This inspection took place on 16 and 18 May 2017. The care home was registered with the Care Quality Commission in May 2016 and this was the first inspection of the service.

Oak Park Care Home is a purpose built care home on the outskirts of Dewsbury. The home provides accommodation for up to 66 people on three floors. The care provided is for people who mainly have needs associated with those of older people; this includes a dedicated unit on the first floor for people living with dementia. There were 44 people living at the home on the first day of our inspection.

There is a registered manager in place who has been registered since the home first opened. 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 told us they felt safe living at the home. There were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Assessments identified risks to people and management plans were in place to reduce the risks and ensure people’s safety. Staff we spoke with had been trained and were knowledgeable about safeguarding people. They were able to explain the procedures to follow should an allegation of abuse be made.

Medicines were stored safely and procedures were in place to ensure medicines were administered safely. We saw people received their medicines in a timely way from staff who had been trained to carry out this role.

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. The registered manager had complied with their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). They had a good understanding of when a person might be deprived of their liberty.

People we spoke with said they were very happy with the meals provided and were involved in choosing what they wanted to eat and were offered alternatives to the set menu if they preferred. Mealtimes were a relaxed and enjoyable experience for people at the home and staff supported people with dignity and respect.

Staff interacted with people with warmth and respect and we saw the atmosphere in the home was friendly and supportive. Staff were able to spend time chatting and laughing with people. People spoke highly of the staff who cared for them and felt able to raise any concerns with staff.

Care files were person centred and evidenced people were involved in their care planning when appropriate. Families had also been consulted with to ensure preferences and views were considered when devising support plans.

The management team provided visible leadership and their vision was to provide a high quality service. Staff told us how supportive management were and told us they enjoyed their roles as carers. The registered provider was actively involved and visited the home regularly to ensure they could support the registered manager to develop the home and recognised building a home from new had its challenges.

The home was well maintained and regular audits were undertaken to benchmark the service and highlight where improvements were required.