About the service Croftfield Residential Home is a residential care home that provides personal care and accommodation for up to 22 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 21 people were living at the home. The home is a converted Victorian building set in its own gardens and situated in a rural area in north Cumbria. Croftfield Residential Home will be referred to as Croftfield within this report.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service put people at the centre of the care they received. People received a responsive service that was very person-centred. Staff included people to develop detailed care plans. People’s changing needs were identified and responded to very quickly. People and their relatives told us they had made good progress and their well-being had benefited significantly since arriving at the home. The service provided a consistently high standard of compassionate end of life care and took into consideration the needs of relatives and friends. This was confirmed by healthcare professionals.
The provider and staff were creative in finding ways to involve people in the local community and to maintain and develop new interests to improve their quality of life. An excellent range of activities and opportunities were available to people inside and outside the home.
People received safe care. The provider had systems to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff assessed and managed risks to people to help keep them safe. There were enough staff to support people. The provider carried out checks on new staff to ensure they were suitable to work in the home. Staff managed people’s medicines safely and kept the home clean and hygienic.
Staff supported people with their healthcare needs and worked well with external healthcare professionals. The service met people’s nutritional needs and worked with them to make sure food and drinks also reflected their preferences. People were cared for by staff who were well supported and had the right skills, knowledge and training to meet their needs very effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People were treated with kindness and compassion by staff who respected their privacy and dignity and promoted inclusion. We were told on numerous occasions by people and relatives, “Croftfield feels like a proper home not an institution.” The service supported people to be independent. We received very positive feedback about the caring approach of staff.
The service was being well-led by an established manager, who was also the owner/provider, and people felt she was very approachable and caring. People felt the care they received was of a high standard and liked living at the home. Everyone we spoke with said they would highly recommend the home. The culture was open and inclusive. If people were not happy, they were confident they could speak with staff to make improvements. The manager understood their responsibilities and monitored the quality of the service using a range of systems.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 20 June 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.