Archived: Acacia Care Home

Updated 8 July 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 was unannounced and was carried out on 15 May 2017 by two inspectors. Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the home including previous inspection reports and notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We spoke with nine people using the service, four visitors and two health professionals. We also spoke with the provider, three care staff members and the cook. We observed care and support being delivered in the communal area of the home.

We looked at care plans and associated records for six people using the service, staff duty records, three staff recruitment files, records of complaints, accidents and incidents, policies and procedures and quality assurance records.

The home was last inspected in April 2016 when no issues were identified.

Updated 8 July 2017

This inspection took place on 15 May 2017 and was unannounced. Acacia Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 12 people, who do not require nursing care. There were 11 people living at the home when we visited.

The provider was in day to day charge of the home. As the registered person they had legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People’s ability to make decisions had been assessed in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and staff sought verbal consent from people before providing care. However, the provider had not always followed legislation designed to protect people's rights and applications to the local authority for approval of restrictions on some people's liberty had not been made where required.

Safe and effective recruitment processes were not always followed with gaps in employment history not being investigated.

People received their medicines as prescribed, however, systems in place to ensure that medicines were stored at the correct temperature and not beyond it’s safe to use date were not robust. Medicines were administered by staff who had received appropriate training and assessments. Healthcare professionals, such as chiropodists, opticians, GPs and dentists were involved in people’s care when necessary.

People and their families told us they felt the home was safe. Staff and the provider had received safeguarding training and were able to demonstrate an understanding of the provider’s safeguarding policy and explain the action they would take if they identified any concerns.

The risks relating to people’s health and welfare were assessed and these were recorded along with actions identified to reduce those risks. They were personalised and provided sufficient information to allow staff to protect people whilst promoting their independence.

People were supported by staff who had received an induction into the home and appropriate training, professional development and supervision to enable them to meet people’s individual needs. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and to enable them to engage with people in a relaxed and unhurried manner.

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink. Mealtimes were a social event and staff supported people, when necessary in a patient and friendly manner.

Staff developed caring and positive relationships with people and were sensitive to their individual choices and treated them with dignity and respect. People were encouraged to maintain relationships that were important to them.

People and their families told us they felt the home was well-led and were positive about the provider who understood the responsibilities of their role. Staff were aware of the provider’s vision and values, how they related to their work and spoke positively about the culture and management of the home.

There was an opportunity for families to become involved in developing the service and they were encouraged to provide feedback on the service provided both informally and through an annual questionnaire. They were also supported to raise complaints should they wish to.

We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated activities) Regulations 2014.You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.