14 April 2016
During a routine inspection
There was a registered manager in post. 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.
At our last inspection on 18 August 2015 we asked the provider to make improvements to ensure people who used the service were protected from avoidable harm or risk of harm. This was specifically in relation to the environment. At this inspection, we found that the provider had made, and was in the process of making improvements to the home. By doing this, the risks identified previously were minimised.
We had also asked the provider to make improvements in how individuals care needs were planned and assessed. At this inspection we saw that some improvements had been made however we saw information was missing that would have assisted staff to understand and respond to people’s care needs better.
The provider had not been effective in the use of the audits to identify improvements that were needed. We asked them to make improvements so they had an effective and consistent way of analysing incidents and accidents to identify emerging trends. At this inspection we saw that some improvements had been made. However we did not see that an overall analysis of trends took place which would have brought each piece of individual information together.
People were not always supported to make choices. When they were unable to make decisions, it was not clear how the provider had acted in their best interests. The home environment lacked signage to enable people to find their way around the home. People enjoyed the food and were supported with their nutritional needs, but the meal time experience was not a positive one for everyone.
People’s interests and hobbies were not always considered and there was little stimulation for people. Not everyone was aware how they could raise concerns and the way of doing this was not accessible to all the people who lived there.
We found that people were protected from harm and staff were aware of the different types of abuse that could happen and were confident in how to raise any concerns. Risks were managed and there were enough staff to keep people safe. Medicines were managed safely. Staff had the knowledge they needed to support people and people were supported to maintain their health.
People were treated with kindness and their dignity and privacy were promoted and respected. People were encouraged to be independent and when possible were enabled to make choices and have some involvement with the planning of their care. Visitors were made to feel welcome.
There was a visible management presence and people spoke positively about the overall culture of the home.
You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.