Background to this inspection
Updated
15 August 2018
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.
We undertook an unannounced focused inspection of Sycamore Lodge on 24 July 2018. This inspection was done to check that improvements to meet legal requirements planned by the provider after our comprehensive inspection of 14 and 16 March 2018 had been made. The team inspected the service against two of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe and is the service well led? This is because the service was not meeting some legal requirements.
One inspector carried out the inspection with 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.
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the last inspection report from March 2018, the action plan the provider sent us dated 26 April 2018 and notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are for certain changes, events and incidents affecting the service or the people who use it that providers are required to notify us about.
During the inspection we spoke with 12 people using the service, the registered manager, deputy manager, six nurses and care staff and a housekeeper. We reviewed staff recruitment records for five members of staff, accident and incident reports, medicines records for 10 people and audits and checks the provider and registered manager carried out to monitor quality in the service and make improvements.
Updated
15 August 2018
We undertook an unannounced focused inspection of Sycamore Lodge on 24 July 2018. This inspection was done to check that improvements to meet legal requirements planned by the provider after our comprehensive inspection of 14 and 16 March 2018 had been made. The team inspected the service against two of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe and is the service well led? This is because the service was not meeting some legal requirements.
No risks, concerns or significant improvement were identified in the remaining Key Questions through our ongoing monitoring or during our inspection activity so we did not inspect them. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for these Key Questions were included in calculating the overall rating in this inspection.
Sycamore Lodge 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.
Sycamore Lodge accommodates up to 75 older people across five separate units, each of which has separate adapted facilities. The service provides care to people who need nursing care, people living with the experience of dementia and people who are receiving care at the end of their lives. When we carried out this inspection, 65 people were using the service.
The service has a manager who is registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.
The provider had acted to address issues we identified at our last inspection. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. There were systems in place for the prevention and control of infection.
The provider carried out checks to make sure staff were suitable to work with people using the service.
There were arrangements in place to keep people safe from abuse. Staff knew about the provider’s policies and procedures and had completed training.
The provider had systems to monitor quality in the service and make improvements. When their audits identified areas for improvement, the provider acted.
The service had a qualified and experienced manager who was supported by a team of experienced senior staff. Staff told us the registered manager and senior staff team were approachable, supportive and knowledgeable.