16 December 2014
During a routine inspection
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.