25 February 2015
During a routine inspection
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”.