Archived: Sycamore Lodge

Updated 30 March 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.

The inspection took place on 25 February 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we looked at information the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had received since our last visit and information provided by the manager. The local authority informed us that the home was compliant in all aspects of their contract. The local authority had not received any concerns regarding this provider and CQC had not received any complaints or concerns about this service.

We focused on observing the care and support provided to the people who lived in the home and speaking with staff. The afternoon was spent looking at medication, care plans and records related to the running of the service.

During our inspection we communicated with two people who lived in the home, two support staff, the manager and the area manager. We observed care and support in communal areas, spoke with a relative and an advocate on the telephone, looked at both care records and looked at all of the staff records. We also looked at records that related to how the home was managed.

We requested information from the provider after the inspection. The information sent by the manager was the infection control audit record.

Updated 30 March 2015

The inspection took place on 25 February 2015 and was unannounced. Sycamore Lodge is part of a group of homes owned by Alternative Futures. The home is situated in a residential area of Wallasey, Wirral. Sycamore Lodge provides accommodation and support for people with learning disabilities. It is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to twelve people, there were two people living there when we visited.

The manager was registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We last inspected the care home on 29 January 2014. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the essential standards that we inspected.

The people had lived at Sycamore Lodge for a considerable number of years and considered it to be their home. There was a small team of eight support staff, including the manager. All of the staff had a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 2 or 3. During our visit we saw that there were enough staff to support people and meet their needs, and everyone we spoke with considered there were enough staff.

The staff we spoke with were able to tell us the action they would take to ensure that people were protected from abuse. All staff had received training about safeguarding. We found that medicines were managed safely and records confirmed that people received the medication prescribed by their doctor. We found that the home was clean and well-maintained. Records we looked at showed that the required safety checks for gas, electric, and fire safety were carried out.

The people living at Sycamore Lodge were unable to communicate with us. The relative we spoke with confirmed that people had choices in all aspects of daily living. Menus were flexible and the staff provided specialist dietary meals as one person had a soft diet and the other person was Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) fed.

The two people who lived at the home were dependent on staff support for all of their personal care needs. They were registered with a local GP health centre and had an annual health check carried out. Records showed that people saw a dentist, optician, and chiropodist as needed.

The care plans we looked at gave details of people’s medical history and medication, and information about the person’s life and their preferences.

The expert by experience commented:

“It would pass the mums test. There is a good atmosphere in the home and there were lots of nice decorative touches designed to meet the sensory needs of the people living there. The staff really enjoy working there and retaining staff meant that people had built up a good relationship with the staff”.