Archived: Boniface House

Updated 25 September 2018

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 20 August 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection was undertaken by one inspector, an assistant 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. In this instance the expert by experience had experience of caring for a relative living with dementia and supporting older relatives to access similar services.

Before the inspection, we checked the information we held about the service including statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

We also contacted the health and social care commissioners who help place and monitor the care of people living in the home.

During our inspection we spoke with eight people who lived in the home, 10 members of staff including five care staff, two shift leaders, two team leaders and a domestic, plus the registered manager. We were also able to speak to three relatives and a friend of a person at the home, who was visiting at the time.

We observed care and support in communal areas including lunch being served. Several people who used the service lived with a dementia related illness and so some of them could not describe their views of what the service was like.

We looked at the care records of four people and three staff recruitment records. We also looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, maintenance schedules, training information for care staff, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 25 September 2018

This inspection took place on the 20 August 2018 and was unannounced.

Boniface House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Boniface House accommodates up to 46 older people in a purpose-built building which has six individual units all on the ground floor. Each unit had its own facilities and people lived in the unit which best met their needs. At the time of our inspection there were 44 people staying there.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

There were not always sufficient staff to meet people’s holistic needs in a safe and timely way. We have made a recommendation about improving the staffing levels.

People received care from staff that knew them and were kind, compassionate and respectful. Care at times was task focussed and there was limited interaction with people outside of completing care tasks.

People’s needs were assessed prior to coming to the home and detailed person-centred care plans were in place and were kept under review. Risks to people had been identified and measures put in place to mitigate any risk.

There were appropriate recruitment processes in place and people felt safe in the home. Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe from any risk or harm and knew how to respond if they had any concerns.

Staff were supported through regular supervisions and undertook training which helped them to understand the needs of the people they were supporting.

People were involved in decisions about the way in which their care and support was provided. Staff understood the need to undertake specific assessments where people lacked capacity to consent to their care and / or their day to day routines.

People were cared for by staff who were respectful of their dignity and who demonstrated an understanding of each person’s needs. This was evident in the way staff spoke to people and the activities they engaged in with individuals.

Relatives spoke positively about the care their relative received and felt that they could approach management and staff to discuss any issues or concerns they had.

People’s health care and nutritional needs were carefully considered and relevant health care professionals were appropriately involved in people’s care.

There were comprehensive systems in place to monitor the quality and standard of the home. Regular audits were undertaken and any shortfalls addressed.

The registered manager was approachable and people felt confident that any issues or concerns raised would be addressed and appropriate action taken.

The service strived to remain up to date with legislation and best practice and worked with outside agencies to continuously look at ways to improve the experience for people.