Vallance Residential Care Home

Updated 30 June 2021

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.

We received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service, specifically around the excessive and incorrect use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for visitors. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 25 May 2021 and was unannounced.

Updated 30 June 2021

Vallance Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to people aged 65 and over. The service can support up to 19 people. There were 15 people living at the home on the day of the inspection. Some people were living with dementia. The building was originally two houses which have been adapted to make one large home.

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

Management systems were not being used consistently to support the governance and oversight of the service. This meant the registered manager could not be assured that risks were always identified and managed and that the quality of the service was maintained. Some safeguarding incidents had not been recognised and reported in line with safeguarding procedures. This meant that some people had felt unsafe at times.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities to keep people safe. Care plans and risk assessments were holistic and guided staff to provide care safely. People received their prescribed medicines when they needed them and they were protected by the prevention and control of infection. There were enough staff to care for people safely. People said they were happy living at Vallance Care Home. One person told us, “I couldn’t cope at home, so it was the best decision coming in here”

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 had confidence in the staff. Staff told us they felt well supported in their roles. Staff had received training that was relevant to people’s needs. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and to access health care services when they needed to.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and with whom they had developed positive relationships. One person told us, “On the whole, I do like it here and staff are very pleasant and helpful.” Staff supported people to be involved in decisions about their care and support and to remain as independent as possible. People’s privacy and dignity was respected.

People were receiving a personalised service because staff knew them well. People were supported to maintain relationships that were important to them and they told us they enjoyed the activities on offer at the home. People and relatives felt comfortable to raise any complaints and staff dealt with concerns as they arose. Staff understood how to support people with end of life care and people’s needs, preferences and wishes were recorded.

People and staff spoke positively about how the home was run and described a warm family atmosphere.

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 14 January 2017).

Why we inspected This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Vallance Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.