Liberty House

Liberty House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 81 people. Some people living at the home were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 70 people using the service.

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

Risks associated with people’s care were identified and managed safely. Staff knew people well and could describe what support people required. People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. Accidents and incidents were monitored and evaluated to mitigate future occurrences.

People received their medicines as prescribed, by staff who were trained and competent to administer medicines safely.

People were protected from the risk and spread of infection. The home was clean, well presented and maintained. The provider had a safe recruitment procedure in place. There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and respond to people in a timely way.

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 had been recent changes in the management team and a new manager had been in post approximately 4 weeks. The new manager had started to make improvements and further embed management systems in to practice. Audits had been completed and actions identified. An overarching home action plan was in place and the new manager was working to achieve positive outcomes.

Person centred care was promoted throughout the home. We observed staff interacting with people in a caring and supportive way.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 30 April 2022).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted due to concerns received about areas of concern such as medicines, management and leadership, and person centred care. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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 found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

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 remained good, based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Liberty House 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.

Liberty House provides accommodation and care for up to 81 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia and other mental health needs. The accommodation is arranged over two floors with units specialising in dementia care and nursing on the ground floor and residential and nursing care on the second floor. There were 49 people living at the home at the time of our inspection.

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

People were comfortable in the presence of staff and they told us they felt safe. The provider had a system in place to make sure people were safeguarded from abuse. Risks associated with people's care were identified and actions taken to manage them. People's medicines were managed safely. Lessons were learned when things went wrong, and action was taken to improve the service and prevent recurrences.

There were enough staff to keep people safe and staff were recruited in a safe way.

People's needs were assessed, and their care and support planned and delivered in a person-centred way. Staff received the right training to meet people’s needs. People’s nutrition and hydration, health and wellbeing were well supported. They had regular access to healthcare services to help make sure their health care needs were met.

The home was clean, pleasantly presented and well maintained. 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.

Staff approached people in a caring way and there was emphasis on maintaining people’s dignity. People and their relatives were involved in the assessment and care planning process, and people’s preferences were clearly stated in their care plans. The provider employed a wellbeing lead who facilitated a varied program of engagement and activities. They also helped people to maintain contact with those who are important to them. People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.

The registered provider had a culture of learning and improvement and there was an effective system of governance in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. The service was well managed, and managers sought people's views about how the service could improve. The people we spoke with, their relatives and staff felt the registered manager was approachable and responsive. Staff worked well with partner professionals to meet people’s individual needs.

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

Rating at last inspection

This was our first inspection since the service was registered with CQC on 11 June 2020.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not previously been inspected. The inspection was also prompted in part due to concerns received about areas including safeguarding, staffing, medicines, moving and handling nutrition and hydration and the standard of care provided. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the Safe and Effective key questions of this full report

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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Follow up

The service was rated good. We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection guidelines. We may inspect sooner if any concerning information is received.