Archived: Ivydene Residential Home

Ivydene Residential Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 17 people with mental health needs; it was full at the time of our inspection. Accommodation is over two floors with several communal areas and people had access to gardens.

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

The service had made improvements since our last inspection and were no longer in breach of regulations however we have made two recommendations to continue to drive improvements. These are about risk management and MCA. A registered manager had been employed in April 2019 and had introduced systems to drive improvement. Whilst these had been mostly successful, further development was required regarding ensuring accurate and complete records were maintained. In addition, more regular analysis of the quality of the service was required to be assured any issues would be quickly identified and rectified.

People received individualised care and support that had positively impacted on their lives. Their relatives agreed with one telling us, “We could hardly get anything out of [family member], now they’re engaged.” The stable staff team knew people especially well and supported them with discretion, sensitivity and compassion. People felt involved and listened to. Independent living skills were encouraged, and the service used advocates as required to assist with this.

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. People’s nutritional and healthcare needs were met in collaboration with other health professionals and their medicines were administered safely. Risks were managed and mitigated although not always recorded. Processes were in place to help reduce the risk of abuse.

People benefitted from receiving care and support from staff who had been trained and felt supported. There was a positive culture within the service and staff demonstrated good team working abilities. People engaged with each other and the staff and relatives told us the home was consistently welcoming. One relative said, “It feels like a family home.” People were supported in their relationships and interests.

Communication was effective and no one we spoke with had any concerns about the service. A complaints policy was in place should people wish to raise concerns. However, the open and transparent culture within the home ensured people felt comfortable in raising issues or worries. Feedback on the service was sought and listened to and people felt involved in not only their care but changes within the home.

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 this service was requires improvement (report published 6 March 2019) and there were two breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. 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.

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.

People’s experience of using this service:

• We identified two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

• Risks had not all been identified and mitigated, and medicines were not always managed safely.

• The registered manager did not always have a clear oversight of the service, and there was a lack of formal quality assurance systems in place.

• Staff were kind and caring and supported people to be as independent as possible. Staff asked for consent before delivering care.

• People had access to healthcare professionals when required, and staff followed recommendations when needed.

• Staff knew how to care for people and received training in their roles, and support from the management team.

• Staff supported people to have a range of healthy balanced meals and enough to drink.

• The staff worked well as a team and communicated well.

• We found the service continued to meet the characteristics of a “Good” rating in effective, caring and responsive. There were some shortfalls leading to a “Requires Improvement” rating in safe and well-led. This meant the overall rating was “Requires Improvement.”

More information is available in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Published 12 May 2016)

Why we inspected: We inspected this service in line with our inspection schedule for services currently rated Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service according to our inspection schedule for services rated Requires Improvement.

Provide a brief overview of the service (e.g. Type of care provided, size, facilities, number of people using it, whether there is or should be a registered manager etc).

N.B. If there is or should be a registered manager include this statement to describe what a registered manager is:

‘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.’

Give a summary of your findings for the service, highlighting what the service does well and drawing attention to areas where improvements could be made. Where a breach of regulation has been identified, summarise, in plain English, how the provider was not meeting the requirements of the law and state ‘You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.’ Please note that the summary section will be used to populate the CQC website. Providers will be asked to share this section with the people who use their service and the staff that work at there.

We asked people whether they agreed with the support and care they received. One person said, 'Oh yes. They always check I'm right with it.' People had signed several documents in their care records. We spoke with them and were satisfied that people understood what they had consented to in writing.

The people we spoke with living at Ivydene all told us they felt safe living there and felt safe with the staff. They told us that if they had any concerns they would speak with staff or the proprietor.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place. Appropriate steps had been taken to ensure that prospective employees had been vetted and were suitable for their role. References had been taken up for all three staff members whose files we reviewed.

Records, including people's medical records, were kept securely which ensured that people's confidentiality was maintained.

One person told us: "We're exactly like a happy family, we have fun and can have a laugh." Another said: "We all look after each other and we all do various chores around the house." Someone else showed us a copy of the daily tasks list that showed what each person was responsible for carrying out and said: "We all work well together as a team."

People spoken with told us that they were happy with the support they received and felt their needs were being met. Everybody said the staff were very good, kind and caring.

They confirmed that there were always enough staff around when they needed them. One person said: "All the staff are absolutely brilliant." Another person told us how the staff helped them with their personal shopping whenever they needed anything.

People also told us that they knew how to make a complaint or raise any concerns and they believed these would be listened to and taken seriously by staff. Someone told us that: "We can talk freely all the time. There's a file in the office where we can report any issues and copies of minutes are available from the residents' meetings we have."