About the serviceCedar House Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 31 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 29 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The new provider had developed a comprehensive action plan when they purchased the home, to which significant progress had been made. They had plans to address some outstanding issues, including improving the availability of activities and consistency of care staff. Some care plans and risk assessments lacked detail about people’s personalised care needs. Further improvement was needed to the culture of the home to improve staff morale and develop a positive ethos. A vision and values statement had been developed with opportunities for staff to contribute.
People were happy with the care they received and said they felt safe. The provider was confident staffing levels were at the correct level, some staff disagreed. We have made a recommendation about this. Safeguarding concerns were investigated and recommendations were implemented. Staff knew about the whistle blowing procedure and could raise concerns, if needed. Health and safety checks and risk assessments were carried out to keep people and the environment safe. Medicines were managed safely and staff followed good IPC practices.
Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and to access health care appointments. Improvements were needed to ensure staff received regular formal supervision and a more in-depth induction programme. We have made a recommendation about 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.
Complaints were logged and investigated. There was a structured approach to quality assurance.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 16 February 2022 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 23 August 2018.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
Recommendations
We have made recommendations in relation to staffing and inducting new staff.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.