Manor Farm Care Home

Updated 26 April 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 checked 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.

This comprehensive inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience on 13 March 2018 and was unannounced. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the contents of notifications received by the service. Services have to notify us of certain incidents that occur in the service, these are called notifications.

Some people using the service were unable to communicate their views about the care they received. We carried out observations to assess their experiences throughout our inspection. We spoke with eight people using the service, four relatives, four care staff, the registered manager and the deputy manager.

We reviewed four care records, two staff personnel files and a sample of records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 26 April 2018

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

Manor Farm is registered to provide support to 25 people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of inspection there were 15 people using the service.

There was a registered manager working at the service. 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. Statutory notifications received by the Care Quality Commission showed us that the manager understood their registration requirements.

At the last inspection in September 2017, the service was rated Inadequate overall and was in breach of multiple regulations. A new management team had been in place for three weeks at the time of that inspection and was already making improvements. The service provided us with an action plan stating how they intended to make the required improvements. At this inspection we found that the necessary improvements had been made to comply with all the regulations previously breached. The service is now rated ‘good’ in all key questions.

The service was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS.) People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe living in the service and that staff made them feel safe. Risks to people were appropriately planned for and managed. Medicines were stored, managed and administered safely.

Checks were carried out to ensure that the environment and equipment remained safe. The service was clean and measures were in place to limit the risk of the spread of infection.

People told us there were enough suitably knowledgeable staff to provide people with the care they required promptly. Staff had received appropriate training and support to carry out their role effectively. Staff received appropriate supervision which helped them develop in their role.

People received appropriate support to maintain healthy nutrition and hydration. People told us there had been significant improvements in the quality of the food.

People told us staff were kind to them and respected their right to privacy and that staff supported people them remain independent. Our observations supported this.

People told us they were encouraged to feed back on the service in a number of different ways and participate in meetings to shape the future of the service. People told us they knew how to complain and felt they would be listened to.

People received personalised care that met their individual needs and preferences. People and their relatives were actively involved in the planning of their care. People were supported to access meaningful activities and follow their individual interests.

The registered manager and deputy manager created a culture of openness and transparency within the service. Staff told us that the registered and deputy managers were visible and led by example. Our observations supported this.

There was a robust quality assurance system in place and shortfalls identified were promptly acted on to improve the service. Significant improvements had been made in the service in a short time frame which demonstrated to us that the management team were effective.

Further information is in the detailed findings below