The inspection took place on 22 September 2015 and was unannounced. When we last inspected the service on 18 April 2013 we found them to be meeting the required standards. At this inspection we found that they had continued to meet the standards.
Abbey Lodge Care Home is registered to provide accommodation for up to eight people with mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were eight people using the service.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.
CQC is required to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves or others. People living in Abbey Lodge Care home were not deprived of their liberty in any way and they did not require DoLS.
People had access to information about safeguarding procedures, they had a list in their bedroom with all the important contact telephone numbers for their GP, care coordinator, manager, Local authority and CQC in case they wanted to contact them directly.
Staff had received appropriate training to ensure they were skilled and knowledgeable to deliver care to the people living at the service.
People were encouraged and supported to take their own medication and where this was not possible staff administered their medication following best practice guidelines.
People had their needs assessed effectively and where any risks were identified these were positively managed and enabled people to be independent.
People were involved in duties around the home like cleaning, laundry, cooking meals. Some people were working as volunteers in local shops.
People were involved in planning and reviewing their care and were encouraged to provide feedback on the service. Care was subject to on-going review and care plans identified people’s particular preferences and choices.
Staff were recruited through a robust procedure and provided with regular training to ensure their knowledge was up to date. Staff was clear on what their role was.
People and staff were positive about the management of the service.
There were robust systems in place to ensure the quality of the service was monitored and improved if the need was identified.