Fairdene Lodge

We found the following examples of good practice.

People and their visitors were protected from catching and spreading COVID-19. During a recent COVID-19 outbreak the provider had facilitated visits for 'essential care givers'. This is a named person who can still visit during a COVID-19 outbreak. This helped to minimise social isolation for people living at Fairdene Lodge.

All visitors were informed of the requirement to provide a negative Lateral Flow Test (LFT) result and were required to wear Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) in accordance with the provider's COVID-19 policies and procedures.

During the outbreak, people had been encouraged to isolate. Due to the nature of people’s needs and understanding, this was not always possible. However, the registered manager and staff took steps to minimise the risk of infection spread. For example, they ensured the areas were well ventilated and encouraged regular handwashing.

The service had a specific housekeeping team who used checklists to ensure regular and consistent cleaning, especially of high touch areas such as light switches. People’s rooms were regularly deep cleaned.

Staff were engaged in a regular testing regime and were observed to be wearing PPE in line with government guidance. There were ample supplies of PPE at the home and staff had received specific training in infection prevention and control (IPC).

There were enough staff to support people safely and to cover any staff holidays, sickness and COVID-19 isolation. There had been some pressures on staff numbers however the provider had a contingency plan in place to ensure any staff shortages did not have a direct impact on people's health and safety.

Fairdene Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to 30 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection, most of whom were living with dementia. The service can support up to 32 people.

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

People received outstanding care that significantly improved their lives and well-being. The service supported people in innovative ways to meet their social and cultural needs. People and their relatives spoke positively about the activities provided at the service, and how these were designed to match people’s needs and choices. The provider had proactively used technology to promote people’s independence and well-being. Staff knew people well and suitably adjusted their way of communicating to meet individual needs. We saw warm and friendly interactions between people and staff.

People were safe living at the home and staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. The provider had safe recruitment and selection processes in place and sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Risks to people's safety were managed through a robust risk management process. Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported to meet their nutritional needs and complimented the food at the home. The home was clean and nicely presented and people had personalised decorations to their doors and bedrooms. People were supported to access healthcare professionals appropriately when needed.

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.

The service was well-led and we received positive feedback about the supportive and open culture at the home. Staff told us they were encouraged to undertake training and development opportunities. People and their relatives were regularly asked for their views and ideas to continually drive improvement.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for the service under the previous legal entity was requires improvement, published on 26 June 2019 and there was a breach of Regulation 18 Registration Regulations 2009: Notification of other incidents. A provider is required to send a notification to the CQC to alert us of any significant incidents, for example, an allegation of abuse in relation to a person using the service or when a person is deprived of their liberty, under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

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.