- Care home
Aster Grove Nursing Home
Report from 2 May 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment, site visit commenced on 16 May 2024, off site assessment activity ended on 28 May 2024. The service was run by a dedicated registered manager. The registered manager understood legislation and regulation; however, they had not submitted statutory notifications to CQC for allegation of abuse. The registered manager immediately submitted the notifications in retrospect and shared plans of how future notifications would be monitored to ensure they were submitted in a timely way. The management team had built and open and inclusive culture for people, their relatives and staff. They had an open door policy and welcomed feedback about the service for continual improvements. Staff were supported to speak up if they felt something was wrong, this could be internally of externally if needed. People were supported by staff who were recruited safely, trained, and supervised. People’s medicines were stored, administered and managed safely. People were protected form the risk of harm or abuse by staff who followed the provider’s safeguarding policy. The service was clean and maintained to a good standard. Health and social care professional input was sought in anticipation and in response to people’s changing needs, staff monitored outcomes and provided feedback to professionals for reviews when needed. People benefitted from a stable staff and management team who knew them well, staff understood people’s communication methods so were able to effectively support them. People were engaged and many attended a full programme of activities, those who preferred to spend time in their bedroom had one to one time with staff to prevent isolation. People were able to welcome visitors at times to suit them. Support was person-centred, people gave views on how they wanted their care to be delivered. Where people were at risk of experiencing inequalities of care, staff ensured services were available by advocating for people.
People's experience of this service
People told us they were content living at the service, they gave positive feedback about the staff and management. Their comments included, “They are always kind and help me.” And, “I’ve all the support I need.” We observed people speaking with staff and visiting the registered manager’s office. A visiting health care professional had also noted this and told us, “Residents go to the office and they (staff) will drop paperwork to spend time with the residents.” People said they felt safe living in the service. Comments included, “I’ve never had any need to not feel safe, I haven’t been here long.” People and their relatives were involved with planning their care and support. A person told us, “My [family member] asks the staff for me if I need anything, she does my care plan.” People were able to use technology within the service, for example, people had Alexas to play music and listen to audio books, there was an interactive table for people to play games on. People enjoyed the virtual reality headset, a staff member told us about this and said, “They really think they’ve been on holiday, it’s special.” People were visited by friends, family and animals were welcomed into the service. Staff arranged fetes, parties and entertainment and people were able to invite their loved ones. A relative told us about their ongoing involvement and said, “At the moment I am helping with the courtyard garden. Last year we did planting up with the residents, it was lovely.” People were enabled to access health and social care services. Where people experienced challenges and barriers, for example, communication, staff used communication tools and assistive technology to ascertain their needs and wishes. Staff liaised with people’s loved ones to gain a deeper understanding about them.