Updated 22 June 2015
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 was 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.
This inspection took place on 30 April 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of a lead Adult Social Care (ASC) inspector, a further ASC inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience (ExE) is a person who has a personal experience of using or for caring for someone who uses this type of Care Service.
Because this comprehensive inspection was as a follow-up to that of January 2015 and two previous inspections in 2014, we had not asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR), which is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider had sent us an action plan after the last inspection and had regularly updated us with progress made.
We reviewed the information we had on the service including concerns and updates which had been given to us by whistle-blower. We also reviewed information from the Local Authority and the local Healthwatch.
We spoke with 12 people who used the service, with two visiting relatives and a visiting health care professional. We also spoke with eight nursing and care staff, three domestic and kitchen staff, the manager and the deputy manager for the service. In addition we spoke with the clinical facilitator for the provider who had spent a lot of time, during recent months at the home and was there on the day of our inspection.
We looked at 15 care files which included additional room files, four staff recruitment files and other files relating to staff training and supervision. We also saw audit files and other records and documentation about the home.
We commenced our inspection early in the morning so that we could see the care and records relating to the night time, the staff handover between the night and day shifts and the ongoing care during the day.
We observed people and staff throughout the inspection and the ExE sampled the food and joined people using the service for lunch and talked with them about their dining experience and general views of the home.