Madelayne Court

Updated 8 June 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 unannounced inspection took place on 25 April 2019 and was carried out by one inspector, an assistant inspector, a specialist professional advisor and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses care services. In this instance, experience of services for older people and people living with dementia.

Service and service type:

Madelayne Court 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.’

What we did:

As part of the inspection, we reviewed a range of information about the service. This included safeguarding alerts and statutory notifications, which related to the service. Statutory notifications include information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law.

Providers are required to send us a Provider Information Return (PIR) in which they tell us about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. The registered manager had completed a PIR which helped to inform our inspection.

We focused on speaking with people who lived at the service and observing how people were cared for. Where people at the service had complex needs, and were not able verbally to talk with us, or chose not to, we used observation to gather evidence of people's experiences of the service. We spoke with 19 people who used the service and five family members and friends.

We spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, regional director, the activities coordinator and eleven staff. We reviewed the care records of ten people. We also looked at a range of documents relating to the management of the service, including seven staff files and a range of quality audits.

We had contact with three health and social care professionals who were involved in the care of people at the service.

We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. This was received in the timescales given and the information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 8 June 2019

About the service: Madelayne Court is a residential care home that provides personal care for up to 112 older people with a physical or sensory impairment and people with dementia. At the time of the inspection, there were 110 people living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

Overall, people were satisfied with the service they received. However, we received mixed feedback in relation to the availability and quality of the time staff spent with people and the quality and choice of meals available.

We recommended that the provider look at good practice guidance about the quality of staffing levels, offering a choice of meals whilst awaiting the new supplier and review people’s needs in relation to their social isolation.

Risk was well managed at the service. Measures were put in place to keep people safe and risks were balanced so that people had freedom and independence. Staff knew what to do if they had concerns for a person’s safety.

Staff were safely recruited and had the necessary skills to meet people's needs. Training and checks of staff competency were in place.

Staff worked well along with external professionals to maintain people’s physical and emotional wellbeing.

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.

Care plans were clear and written in a respectful person centred way. Care was reviewed and adjusted when changes happened. People were supported to take part in pastimes and interests, however these were restricted due to the staffing levels.

People were given empathy, consideration and respect. Their privacy was protected, and they were treated in a dignified way.

The registered manager and staff worked well with professionals and families to ensure people receiving good end of life care and support.

There was an established management team and a number of long-standing staff who knew people well. The registered manager promoted an open culture where people and staff felt able to have a say in the service. The registered manager developed positive links with external agencies and used feedback to learn from incidents and accidents.

Rating at last inspection:

The last report was a responsive inspection we undertook due to concerns raised. We inspected the service on 5 December 2017 and looked at two key questions Safe and Well led and found the service to be Good in both questions.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor Madelayne Court to ensure people receive care which meets their needs. We plan our inspections based on existing ratings and on any new information which we receive about each service.

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