Archived: Eastgate House Residential Home

Updated 26 August 2016

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 registered persons were 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.

Before the inspection we examined the information we held about the service. This included notifications of incidents that the registered persons had sent us since the last inspection. These are events that happened in the service that the registered persons are required to tell us about.

We visited the service on 26 July 2016. The inspection was unannounced and the inspection team consisted of a single inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is someone who has personal knowledge of using this type of service.

During the inspection we spoke with nine people who lived in the service and with two relatives. We also spoke with a senior care worker, two care workers, the chef, administrator and deputy manager. We observed care being provided in communal areas and we also examined records that related to how the service was managed including staffing, training and quality assurance.

After the inspection visit we spoke by telephone with two relatives. We did this so that they could tell us their views about how well the service was meeting their family members’ needs and wishes.

Updated 26 August 2016

This was an unannounced inspection carried out on 26 July 2016.

Eastgate House Residential Home can provide accommodation and personal care for 20 older people. There were 11 people living in the service at the time of our inspection.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 was not present in the service during our inspection visit.

At our inspection on 25 July 2014 there were two breaches of legal requirements. We found that people were not always receiving all the assistance they needed to keep their skin healthy. In addition, we found that accurate records were not always being kept to suitably describe the care that was being provided and to list the number of staff who were on duty. After the inspection the registered persons wrote to us to say what actions they intended to take to address the problems in question. They said that all of the necessary improvements would be completed by 30 September 2014. At the present inspection we found that the necessary improvements had been made and that the two legal requirements had been met.

People were helped to avoid the risk of accidents and staff knew how to respond to any concerns that might arise so that people were kept safe from abuse.There were reliable arrangements for ordering, dispensing and recording the use of medicines. There were enough staff on duty to care for people and background checks had been completed before new staff were appointed. People were protected from the risk of acquiring avoidable infections.

Parts of the accommodation were not adapted and decorated to meet people’s individual needs. Although staff knew how to care for people in the right way the registered persons had not made robust arrangements to provide all of the training they considered to be necessary. People were assisted to eat and drink enough and the catering arrangements helped people to enjoy their meals. Staff had made sure that people were offered all of the healthcare assistance they needed.

Staff had ensured that people’s rights were respected by helping them to make decisions for themselves. The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how registered persons apply the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and to report on what we find. These safeguards protect people when they are not able to make decisions for themselves and it is necessary to deprive them of their liberty in order to keep them safe. Five people living in the service were being deprived of their liberty or were subject to a high level of supervision and the registered manager had taken the necessary steps to ensure that their legal rights were protected.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff recognised people’s right to privacy, promoted their dignity and there was provision for confidential information to be kept private.

People had been consulted about the care they wanted to receive and they had been given all of the practical assistance they needed. People who lived with dementia and who could become distressed received the individual support and reassurance they needed. People were given opportunities to pursue their hobbies and interests and there was a system for resolving complaints.

Quality checks had not consistently identified and resolved problems. However, when people and their relatives had suggested improvements to the service their ideas had been implemented.

Good team work was promoted and staff were supported to speak out if they had any concerns because the service was run in an open and inclusive way. People had benefited from staff acting upon good practice guidance.