Archived: Flowerdown House

Updated 6 February 2020

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The service was inspected by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 6 February 2020

About the service

Flowerdown House is a hotel which offers short breaks to serving or ex Royal Airforce personnel and their families. The service provides accommodation for up to eight people with care needs in specific bedrooms. During our inspection there were no people receiving care staying at the service. However, on the second day of our inspection the registered manager arranged for regular guests to visit the hotel to speak with us. The property is a large detached house on the sea front.

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

The person and their relative that we spoke with were full of praise for the staff and their experience of staying at the hotel. People told us, “They are wonderful, they will do anything for us. I have a real holiday here.” Staff we spoke with demonstrated commitment to ensuring people had the best holiday they could, in a way they wished. Both staff and people using the service described it as, ‘a family.’

People felt well-cared for at the service. Staff described how important it was to support people to be as independent as possible. Staff told us about supporting people with their choices and how important it was to get to know people. All the staff we spoke with told us they enjoyed getting to know people and spending time with them. Staff told us they had as much time as needed to support people.

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.

People were cared for safely at the service, the environment was well-maintained and equipment was serviced regularly. Staff assessed any risk to people and took steps to minimise these. There was a range of equipment such as ceiling hoists and electric mobility scooters available to assist people. The premises were clean and fresh with a range of level-access communal areas.

The provider had systems in place to enable people to access healthcare support whilst on holiday. Staff made sure people had enough to eat and drink and people told us they always had choice. Where people had been unhappy about the food the registered manager had made changes based on their feedback.

People’s care and support was based around their needs and preferences. Staff told us they always made sure they knew how and when people liked their support. In order to make sure staff could give everybody the time they needed they balanced people’s holiday bookings so there wasn’t several people with high needs at the same time.

The service was well-managed. Staff were very positive about working at the service; some staff had been there many years. The registered manager had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Where they had identified shortfalls in quality, action had been taken.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control 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.

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 07 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.