• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Old Shenfield Place

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

2 Hall Lane, Shenfield, Essex, CM15 9AB (01277) 246004

Provided and run by:
Old Shenfield Place Ltd

Important: The provider of this service changed - see old profile
Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 10 September 2019

Safe – this means we looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.

At the last inspection this key question was rated as requires improvement. At this inspection this key question has now improved to good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

Using medicines safely

• At our previous inspection we identified people were not always supported with their medicines safely. At this inspection, medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed. Only those staff appropriately trained, administered medicines to people. One relative said, “There used to be a problem with [family member] being given (time specific medicine) on time, but better now.”

• We observed a senior staff member administering lunchtime medicines. They checked the medicine administration records (MAR), the medicines packet and reconciled the medicines. The senior approached people in a quiet, dignified way informing them of their medicine. They asked if they wanted water or cordial to drink.

• The senior staff member was knowledgeable about medication and the importance of the correct procedures.

Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management

• Risks to people were assessed and action taken to address them. However, the service had started the process of transferring care plans onto a new format. Whilst the risks were assessed in the new format, some information was conflicting, and it was not clear if action had been taken. For example, one person’s risk assessment stated, “Consider a referral to the speech and language team (SALT).” However, the person’s eating and drinking care plan stated, “No swallowing issues.” The care plan did not identify if the guidance had been followed or why the choking assessment had scored medium. The registered manager had organised a care plan audit to check the new formats contained accurate information. The registered manager sent an update with actions taken clearly recorded.

• Risks to people's safety and well-being were understood by staff. The premises and equipment were risk assessed and safely maintained.

• People and relatives said the service kept people safe. One person told us, “It is very safe here. Always someone when I need them.”

Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuse

• Staff had received training on how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Staff understood how to recognise the signs of abuse and the ways to report this. One staff member said, “I would be confident to whistle-blow and could go to the manager.”

• The provider had policies and systems in place to safeguard people from abuse and they followed the local safeguarding protocols.

Staffing and recruitment

• People continued to be supported by staff who had been safely recruited. A full employment history and references were obtained. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal record checks were completed. The DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions.

• During the inspection we observed staff were available to people, responding promptly to requests for support. In communal areas, people had consistent staff supervision and there was good interaction throughout the day. One person told us, “There is always someone around, occasionally have to wait a bit but not long.” A relative said, “There seems to be enough staff around.”

• Staff we spoke to felt there were enough staff on duty. One staff member told us, “There is enough staff here and the seniors will help when we are pushed.”

Preventing and controlling infection

• Staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and aprons, to enable them to reduce the risks of cross infection. These were readily available.

• The service was clean throughout, we spoke with the head housekeeper about two rooms where we had detected an odour and they told us they would check these. When we returned later, both rooms had been cleaned and no odour remaine

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 10 September 2019

About the service

Old Shenfield Place is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 26 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. At the time of inspection 26 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

There were improvements in the way medicines were managed. People received their medicines as prescribed and there were safe systems of ordering, recording and storing medicines.

Audits were not all up to date and the registered manager was working to a service improvement plan. Following the inspection, the operations manager told us all audits were now up to date. At this inspection we found that care plans were being transferred to a new format which had not yet been fully completed. The registered manager sent us additional information following the inspection to evidence improvements.

People were protected from abuse by staff who understood how to identify and report any abuse concerns. People were supported by a stable staffing team who had been safely recruited. The risks to people's health, safety and welfare had been assessed, however the information in relation to how these risks were being mitigated were not always easy to find.

Staff received an effective induction, followed by ongoing training and management support to enable them to work 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 and relatives said staff were caring. People were treated with dignity and respect and received an individual service. The provider had an effective complaints procedure. People were supported to access activities they enjoyed.

The service worked effectively in partnership with other organisations for the benefit of people living there. Staff were positive about the management team.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 16 August 2018). The service has now improved to good.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation 17.

Since this rating was awarded the registered provider has altered its legal entity. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

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.