Archived: Hilbre Lodge

We spoke with six people who used the service and with six staff. We looked at various documents and files, including four care plans and four staff files. We were able to speak with five visitors, who were all relatives of the people living at Hilbre Lodge.

This service has been recently purchased by the current owner and this is the first inspection of it under the new ownership. It was previously a care home under different ownership but during 2013 had been run and managed by the current owner who bought it in December 2013. The majority of the residents who live there had lived there for some time. The new owner had recently applied to become the registered manager.

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what people using the service, their relatives and the staff told us, what we observed and the records we looked at.

If you want to see the evidence that supports our summary please read the full report.

This is a summary of what we found.

Is the service safe?

People are treated with respect and dignity by the staff. People told us they felt safe. Safeguarding procedures are robust and staff understood how to safeguard the people they supported.

Systems were in place to make sure that managers and staff learn from events such as accidents and incidents, complaints, concerns, whistleblowing and investigations. This reduces the risks to people and helps the service to continually improve. One relative told us, 'She is very safe here. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't'. Another told us, 'Its improved vastly [from the previous ownership]'.

The service was safe, clean and hygienic. Equipment was well maintained and serviced regularly therefore not putting people at unnecessary risk.

The manager sets the staff rotas and took people's care needs into account when making she made decisions about the numbers, qualifications, skills and experience of staff required. This helped to ensure that people's needs were always met.

Recruitment practice was safe and thorough. Policies and procedures were in place to make sure that unsafe practice is identified and people are protected.

Is the service effective?

People's health and care needs were assessed, and they were involved in writing their plans of care. This was confirmed by the people using the service. Specialist dietary, mobility and equipment needs had been identified in care plans where required. One relative told us they had all been involved in writing the care plan.

People's family members told us that they were happy with the care received by their relatives and felt their needs had been met. It was clear from what we saw and from speaking with staff that they understood people's care and support needs and that they knew them well. We spoke with one person using the service who told us, 'I can tell staff what I want". Visitors confirmed that they were able to see people in private and that visiting times were open. One visitor told us, 'We can come whenever we want. It's her room and her home'.

Is the service caring?

People were supported by kind and attentive staff. We saw that workers were patient and gave encouragement when supporting people. People told us they were able to do things at their own pace and were not rushed. Our observations confirmed this. One person told us about the staff, "We have found the staff to be exceptionally good'. A relative said, 'The staff are the reason my Mum is here'. Another told us, 'It's very caring'.

We noted that peoples preferences about, for example, activities, room layouts or clothing choices, were respected by the staff. The people who used the service were supported, where necessary, to make these choices and decisions. People's preferences, interests, aspirations and diverse needs had been recorded and care and support had been provided in accordance with people's wishes.

Is the service responsive?

People participated in a range of activities in and outside the service, regularly. The home has its own adapted minibus, which helped keep people involved with their local community and enabled them to participate in outside activities. One relative told us, 'There are a lot of activities going on, things like boat trips and visits to ice cream parlours'.

We found that services were organised so that they meet people's needs.

People knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy. One relative said that they had made a complaint and were satisfied with the outcomes. They said, 'Any issues we report are dealt with straight away'. People can therefore be assured that complaints are investigated and action is taken as necessary.

Is the service well-led?

Staff had a good understanding of the ethos of the home and quality assurance processes were in place. The manager was undergoing training with the aim of becoming the registered manager.

The home completed various other audits throughout the year, which would contribute to an annual audit. The provider had several premises and for all, used the same IT package for much of its record keeping and policies. The manager was able to demonstrate effective knowledge of this and show us that she had acted according to policy regarding such things as recruitment, safeguarding procedures and CQC notifications.