Homelea Residential Care Home

Updated 30 March 2022

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 8 March 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 30 March 2022

About the service

Homelea is a residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 28 older people, some living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 27 people were living at the home. Three of these people were staying at the service on a short-term basis, otherwise known as respite.

Homelea is situated across three floors, with various communal areas and a large spacious garden. There were stair lifts to enable people to get to rooms on all floors. There was also a small room that had been turned into a hairdressing salon.

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

People told us they felt safe living at Homelea. One person said, “Yes I feel safe, it is good here, it is great here.” Relatives were confident their loved ones were safe and looked after. One relative told us, “The staff are very good, my relative is kept safe here. They get their medication on time and the staff always wear gloves and aprons for personal care.” Staff were aware of risks to people’s wellbeing and supported them to reduce these risks. People received their medicines from staff that were trained and competent. Staffing levels were regularly reviewed to ensure that people’s needs, and preferences could be met at all times.

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

People and their relatives believed that staff received regular training and support to do their jobs effectively. One person said, “Definitely the staff have the skills to care for us here.” People’s nutritional needs were met, and they were complimentary about meals. Comments included, “The food is always great, the cook is very good” and, “Food is excellent, you get a choice.” People had access to a variety of health and social care professionals to ensure they felt happy and healthy. The building had been adapted to support those people living with dementia or physical support needs.

People and their relatives spoke highly of staff and described them as “Lovely”, “Sweet” and, “Interested in me.” A relative said, “Staff are very caring, they treat my relative very well. I am definitely happy with their care and they are well looked after.” Staff listened to and respected people’s preferences and choices, to ensure they were treated with dignity. They had a good understanding of maintaining people’s privacy and their independence was continuously promoted.

Since the previous inspection, significant improvements had been made to ensure people enjoyed activities that were centred around their preferences and hobbies. External entertainers visited daily and people told us they enjoyed these sessions and looked forward to them. Staff knew what activities people enjoyed doing and encouraged them to do these.

Staff knew about people’s communication needs and used a variety of tools to support with this. People and their relatives knew who they could talk to if they had any concerns and were supported to make complaints if required. Although no-one was receiving end of life support at the time of inspection, staff told us how they had supported people previously and personalised end of life plans were implemented that detailed people’s preferences.

Since the previous inspection, significant improvements had been made to the quality assurance process. Regular audits of people’s documentation, the environment, incidents and complaints meant that the management team had clear oversight of the service. An external professional visited monthly to do further audits. People, their relatives, staff and professionals spoke highly about the registered manager and deputy manager and their passion about providing the best care possible. Both managers had ideas of continuously growing and improving people’s experiences.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (Published 17 July 2018) and there were two breaches of regulation. We issued two warning notices and met with the provider to discuss the improvements that were needed. The provider completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made, the warning notices had been met and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.