Alder Grange

Updated 28 February 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one 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.

Service and service type:

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

Alder Grange accommodates up to 21 people in one adapted building.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications about events that had happened at the service, which the provider was required to send us by law. For example, safeguarding concerns, serious injuries and deaths that had occurred at the service.

We spoke with six people who used the service and three relatives. We observed care and support in communal areas to assess how people were supported by staff. We spoke with three members of staff, the team manager, the deputy manager, the registered manager and the provider

We viewed three people’s care records to confirm what we had observed and what staff had told us. We looked at how medicines were stored, administered and recorded for three people. We also looked at documents that showed how the home was managed which included training and induction records for staff employed at the service and records that showed how the service was monitored by the registered manager and provider.

Updated 28 February 2019

About the service:

Alder Grange is a residential care home that was providing personal care to 19 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

People’s experience of using this service:

People were supported by safely recruited staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them in line with their needs. People were supported safely to manage their risks, whilst promoting their independence. People were supported in a clean environment and their medicines were managed safely.

Effective care planning was in place which guided staff to provide support that met people’s needs and in line with their preferences. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

We made a recommendation about the presentation of soft or textured food.

Staff were kind and caring towards people and promoted choices in a way that people understood. People’s right to privacy was upheld. People were supported to maintain their independence.

People had opportunities to be involved in activities. People and their relatives were involved in the planning of their care, which meant people were supported in line with their preferences. Complaints systems were in place, which people and relatives knew how to use.

Systems were in place to monitor the service, which ensured that people’s risks were mitigated and lessons were learnt when things went wrong. People, relatives and staff could approach the registered manager who acted on concerns raised to make improvements to people’s care. The provider looked for ways to improve the service people received.

The service met the characteristics of Good in all areas; more information is available in the full report below.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 28 June 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating of Good at the last inspection. We found the service continued to meet the characteristics of Good in all areas.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.