Archived: Stanmore Residential Home

There was evidence that learning from incidents took place and appropriate changes were implemented. Water temperatures that had been recorded as high enough to present a risk of scalding had been addressed. We saw evidence that water temperatures were monitored weekly and any discrepancies were addressed without delay.

At our last inspection in July 2013 we found concerns with the arrangements for handling medicines. The provider wrote to us and told us that they had taken action to address the concerns. At this visit we saw that part of the plan was being acted upon but there were still concerns around medicine handling. We found that the provider did not have suitable arrangements for the recording and safe administration of medicines.

We saw evidence that appropriate checks were undertaken before staff were employed, to show that they were fit to work with vulnerable adults.

Medicines were not obtained, recorded and kept safely in accordance with professional guidelines, and there was no system to audit the recording of medicines to recognise and address any possible errors.

There was evidence that learning from incidents did not take place and appropriate changes were not implemented. We noted that the record of weekly checks of hot water temperatures showed that in one person's room the water temperature was 55'C, which indicated that there was a risk of scalding. Water temperatures in some other rooms were recorded as low as 20'C, which is too cold for comfortable use. The provider did not take any action to address this.

We had received a number of concerns relating to the safety and well-being of people using the service following a recent inspection by the local authority to monitor the service in line with there own contracting arrangements. We took those concerns seriously and conducted our own inspection.

We found the planning of people's care was not effective to ensure people were not at risk of receiving inappropriate or unsafe care.

Most of the people we spoke with said they were treated with dignity and respect. One person said staff were "nice with her when walking." When we observed staff, they treated people with dignity and respect, allowing people to take their time to move or eat.

All the people we spoke with said they enjoyed the food. Most of the people we spoke with said they got to choose what they ate and drank and when we observed staff, they offered choices to people before bringing them any food.

None of the people we spoke with had any concerns with the service. We found staff were aware of different types of abuse and knew most of the procedure regarding reporting suspected abuse.

Most of the people we spoke with said there were enough staff. One person said the staff were "very attentive". and that when we observed care, staff were not rushing.

All the records we viewed included information relevant to people's needs. Although some of this information was not detailed, the service was starting a new care plan which allowed them to add much more detail to its' care plans to ensure they clearly recorded people's needs.