Langdale Lodge

Langdale Lodge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 30 people. The service provides support to older people, people living with dementia and younger adults. At the time of our inspection there were 30 people using the service. The home provides care across 2 floors, with a communal lounge and dining areas.

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

Systems were in place to protect people from abuse. Risks to people were regularly assessed and appropriate measures were in place to minimise risk. Staff understood safeguarding principles and were aware of how to raise a concern. There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs. Staff were recruited safely, and appropriate checks were completed prior to employment. People received their prescribed medicines safely and staff followed correct infection control procedures. Accidents and incidents were recorded and actions were taken to mitigate risk of reoccurrence.

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. The registered manager focused on providing a warm, friendly person-centred environment. Relatives told us there was an open and welcoming family feel to the home. People told us the care provided to people was good and staff developed positive relationships with people. The provider worked alongside other healthcare professionals to support people's care needs.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. The provider promoted a positive learning culture in the home. People were consulted with regularly to give feedback on the service; this was used to drive improvements.

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 20 September 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing and care practice. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

We found the following examples of good practice.

The home had an IPC lead who oversaw IPC training. They also carried out frequent spot checks and supervisions to ensure staff were supported in their understanding of good infection control practices and PPE compliance.

The provider had assigned a designated lead for the home to ensure changes in COVID-19 guidance were communicated and understood by management and staff. There were effective systems in place to ensure the provider had oversight of IPC within the home and share information.

The home was clean and well maintained. Cleaning schedules showed that the home was cleaned regularly, including increased cleaning of high touch points. Domestic staff were visible around the home.

The home had the facilities to effectively cohort people in the event of an outbreak.

Individual risk assessments were in place to consider the impact of COVID-19 on individual health conditions.

This was Langdale Lodge’s first inspection under a new registration. Their registration changed in April 2017.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There was also a management team in place who were responsible for the day to day running of the home. They ensured that the systems which were in place to drive quality improvement were completed and actions embedded. They also gained feedback from people who used the service and used this to make changes. There were good relationships with other organisations and professionals.

Staff received regular supervision and training to enable them to do their job well. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs promptly and safe recruitment procedures were followed to ensure they were suitable to support people. People were kept safe by staff who understood their responsibilities to detect and report abuse. They had developed caring, respectful relationships with people and ensured their dignity and privacy were upheld.

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. They were supported to maintain good health and had regular access to healthcare professionals. Mealtimes were not rushed and people were given a choice of meal. We saw that food and drink was regularly provided and records were maintained for people who were nutritionally at risk. Care plans were regularly reviewed to correspond with changing support needs and they were personalised and accessible.

People were encouraged to pursue interests and hobbies and regular activities were planned. Visitors were welcomed at any time. People knew the managers and felt confident that any concerns they raised would be resolved promptly. There were regular meetings with people and their relatives and surveys were carried out; the feedback was used to improve the home.

Risk was assessed and actions were put in place to reduce it. The effectiveness of the action taken was monitored and regularly reviewed. Lessons were learnt when things went wrong to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. There were systems in the home to keep it clean and free from infection. Medicines were managed to reduce the risks associated with them and people received them when they needed them.