Archived: Aarondale Care Home

Updated 13 August 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) 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 Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was conducted by an inspector, two specialist medicines 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.

Service and service type:

Aarondale Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection:

Our inspection was informed by information we already held about the service. We sought feedback from partner agencies and professionals. We also checked for feedback we received from the local authority and health care professionals.

Our plan took into account information the provider sent us since the last inspection. We also considered information about matters the provider must notify us about, such as events involving injury and alleged abuse.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection:

We visited the home and met the registered manager, an area manager who was a representative of the provider, the deputy manager and care staff. We also spoke with people and their relatives. We reviewed eight care records and policies and procedures. We considered four staff recruitment and personnel files and other records about the management of the service. We also completed a review of the safety of the environment of the home which included looking at people's bedrooms and communal areas.

After the inspection:

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager and provider to corroborate evidence we found.

Updated 13 August 2019

About the service:

Aarondale Care Home is a residential care home that was providing personal care to 30 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 48 people. The home accommodates people across three floors, each having separate adapted facilities, a lift and a stair lift. Some of the people living in the home had a diagnosis of dementia. The home is situated in Chorley, Lancashire.

People's experience of using this service and what we found:

Generally medicines were managed safely but further improvement was required to ensure people always received their medicines as prescribed by healthcare professionals. We have made a recommendation about this that can be seen in the ‘safe’ section of this report.

People were happy with the care and support they received in the home. They told us staff were kind, caring and respectful of them. Relatives also spoke positively about the care their family members received.

People were supported to be safe and said that they felt safe. Staff received safeguarding training and had a good understanding of the principles involved in acting when abuse was suspected.

People's needs were met through assessments and support planning. The service worked with health and social care professionals to achieve positive outcomes for people. Staff had good knowledge and skills and this ensured people's needs were well met. We saw good examples of when people had been supported to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

The provider had a robust recruitment process. This meant that staff were recruited safely. Any issues with staff were dealt with promptly using a fair and thorough disciplinary process. Staff were properly supervised and supported. They said that the home had improved substantially since the last inspection in November 2018.

Staff were observed to be kind, caring and respectful towards people. They demonstrated a commitment to providing high quality care and supported people to be as independent as possible.

People received care and support that was person-centred. We saw examples of how the care and support people received enriched their lives through meaningful activities. The service had a robust complaints policy.

The values and culture embedded in the service ensured people were safe and at the heart of the care and support they received. The registered manager and senior staff planned and promoted holistic, person-centred, high-quality care resulting in good outcomes for people. People knew how to feedback their experiences and this was considered and acted upon by the registered manager and provider representative.

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.

There was an end of life policy in place that could be used if appropriate. Some staff had been trained around this and the home were involved with local organisations to ensure best practice was applied during times when people were at the end of life. Relatives were complimentary about the support that was provided at this sensitive time.

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 23 April 2019).

Why we inspected:

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to review information we receive about the service until we return to visit as part of our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.