Eldon House Care Services

Eldon House is a residential home providing personal care for up to 34 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom are living with dementia and people with physical and sensory disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service.

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

The service provided safe care to people. Staff were trained to recognise abuse and would report any concerns. People and their relatives felt the care provided was safe. People's individual risks were identified, assessed, reviewed and plans were in place to minimise them. Medicines were managed safely, and people received the support they needed to take them as prescribed.

Staff understood how to minimise the risk of infection and there were measures in place to prevent cross infection. There were enough safely recruited staff to support people to meet their needs. Where incidents happened, these were reviewed, and learning applied to prevent recurrence.

People had their needs assessed and plans put in place to meet them. Where needed other professionals were involved in people’s care and support and people were supported to maintain their health. People’s dietary needs were met, and people had access to a choice of food and drinks. Staff received support and training in their role and worked as a team to support people.

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 understood how to make a complaint and the registered manger encouraged an open and transparent culture which meant people were happy to raise any concerns. People’s needs and preferences were understood by staff and care plans reflected people’s individual needs. This included information about how people like to spend their time and their interests. People had been asked about their wishes for their care at the end of their life.

The registered manager had systems to enable staff to share their ideas for the service and staff felt supported in their roles. Where required the registered manager worked in partnership with others to provide people’s care and support. The registered manager used quality and safety checks which were in place to identify areas for improvements.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (28 May 2019). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

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

Why we inspected

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

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions effective, responsive, and well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Eldon House Care Services on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Eldon House is a residential home providing personal care for up to 34 people who may have dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 34 people living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were not always supported to have maximum choice of their lives; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice, however staff did offer choice, such as, where people spent their time.

There was not always enough for people to do and people told us they were bored. People did not always feel there was enough variety at meal times, although people liked the food.

People who used the service were supported safely. Staff treated people with care, dignity and respect. People could access other health professionals and were supported to have their medicines.

Systems were in place to ensure that risks were mitigated. People had their call bells responded to quickly should they need assistance and people were supported to move around the home safely.

Rating at last inspection:

This is the first inspection since the service registered in November 2017.

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the service being newly registered.

Recommendations:

• We recommend that staffing levels are assessed in a more consistent manner to ensure the staff feel that they can effectively achieve their role.

• We recommend that all PRN medications have protocols in place in line with The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance about managing medicines and care homes .

• We would recommend that a more structured approach is introduced to the planning and facilitation of activities.

Enforcement:

• One breach of regulation was identified during this inspection. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.