Archived: Doddlespool Hall Care Home

Updated 21 April 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection was undertaken by two inspectors and took place on 16 December 2014. We inspected this service because we had received information of concern regarding the upkeep of the building. The inspection was unannounced.

We had not asked the service to complete a provider information return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications the service had sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We talked with six people who used the service and four relatives. We also spoke with the acting manager and five members of staff.

We reviewed three care plans, four staff recruitment files and information relating to the management of the home. We also spoke with the fire safety officer and an environmental health officer.

Updated 21 April 2015

We inspected this service on 16 December 2014. The inspection was unannounced and in response to information of concern we had received regarding the safety and maintenance of the home. At our inspection in April 2014 the provider was meeting all the legal requirements.

The service provides personal care for up to 27 people. There were 20 people living at the home on the day of our inspection.

There was a registered manager in post but they were on long term leave. 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 registered manager had arranged for their deputy to take responsibility whilst they were off however the deputy left the service a few months before our inspection. A senior carer, with previous registered manager experience, was working as the ‘acting’ manager.

We found the home was not being well maintained and we identified areas which required repair and maintenance.

There was a suitable recruitment process in place to ensure staff were safe to work with people who lived in the home.

Medicines were stored, administered and recorded correctly so that people received their medicines safely.

Staff understood that some people needed support to make important decisions about their health and well-being. Staff recognised the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were referred to other healthcare professionals when they needed specialist support.

Staff were kind and compassionate to people. Staff supported people to maintain their dignity and ensured personal care was provided in privacy.

The acting manager was in the process of improving the information recorded in the care plans. The care people received reflected their choices.

People were able to take part in hobbies or interests in a group or individually, dependent on their preferences.

There were some quality assurance processes in place. The acting manager was increasing the audit programme to monitor the service.

We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what actions we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.