24th February 2015
During a routine inspection
We undertook this unannounced inspection on the 24 February 2015. We last inspected The Crest on the 9 September 2013. At that inspection we found the home was meeting the regulations that were assessed.
The Crest is owned by BUPA Care Homes. The home is situated in a residential area of Harrogate a short distance from the town centre. The Crest provides residential care for 31 people some of whom live with dementia. The home comprises of 31 rooms, many of which have en-suite facilities. The accommodation is provided over two floors, which are all accessed by a passenger lift or stairs. There are a range of communal, garden and patio areas for people to use.
The home employs a registered manager who had worked at the home for over two years. 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 service was safe. People spoke positively about the care they received at The Crest and they said they felt safe. We saw there were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff were recruited safely and they were trained appropriately to be able to support people. People medicines were managed safely.
People who lacked capacity were protected under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 as the provider was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Applications had been submitted to the local authority, appropriate policies and procedures were in place. Staff had received training to understand and ensure safeguards would be put in place to help to protect people.
People were provided with nutritious food. Assistance and prompting was given by staff where necessary to assist people. Adapted cutlery and crockery were available to people for them to use to help maintain people’s independence.
People’s physical health was monitored. This included the monitoring of people’s health conditions and symptoms, so that appropriate referrals to health professionals were made.
Staff were kind and caring and we observed this throughout our visit. Staff were seen to be attentive and kind to people and they respected people’s individuality, privacy and dignity. Staff we spoke with knew people they were caring for well. People’s care needs were recorded in detail in their individual care records.
The home was well led as the culture at the home was open and transparent with staff working together as one large team. The manager was pro-active and was committed to improving the service. This ensured that the home remained a pleasant place for people to live. The registered manager had an effective quality assurance system in place which ensured that the home remained a safe place for people to live. People living at the home, their relatives and staff working at the home told us that the home was well run and described the manager as ‘dynamic, knowledgeable about dementia care, experienced and listened to people’ were just a few of the comments made to us during our visit.
We received information from Healthwatch. They are an independent body who hold key information about the local views and experiences of people receiving care. CQC has a statutory duty to work with Healthwatch to take account of their views and to consider any concerns that may have been raised with them about this service. We also consulted the Local Authority to see if they had any concerns about the service, and none were raised.