This inspection took place on 1 June 2016 and was unannounced.Alder Grange provides residential care for a maximum of 21 people. At the time of our visit, 21 people lived at the home.
The service had a registered manager. 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.
The home had enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to work well with people who lived at the home. This was due to an effective induction and on going staff training.
Staff understood safeguarding policies and procedures, and followed people’s individual risk assessments to ensure they minimised any identified risks to people’s health and social care.
Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work at Alder Grange to ensure their suitability to work with people in the home.
Medicines were managed safely and people received their prescribed medicines at the right time. Systems were in place to ensure medicines were ordered on time and stored safely in the home.
Staff respected and acted upon people’s decisions. Where people did not have capacity to make informed decisions, ‘best interest’ decisions were taken on the person’s behalf. This meant the service was adhering to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
The provider met the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and had followed the advice of the local authority DoLS team. The provider had referred some people to the local authority for an assessment when they thought the person’s freedom was restricted, and referred others after our visit.
People were provided with sufficient to eat and drink and people’s individual nutritional needs were well supported. People enjoyed the food provided. Where changes in people’s health were identified, they were referred promptly to other healthcare professionals.
People and visitors to the home were positive about the care provided by staff. Staff were caring and kind to people and supported people’s privacy and dignity.
A wide range of activities were provided to meet people’s individual interests and to promote engagement with other people who lived in the home.
People who lived at Alder Grange, their relatives, and staff, felt able to speak with management and share their views about the service. Complaints were responded to appropriately.
The management team were respected by people and their relatives. Staff felt supported by management and by the ‘open’ culture in the home. The provider sought to continually improve the service provided.