St Mary's Lodge

St Mary’s Lodge provides care and accommodation for up to 26 older people who may be living with dementia. At the time of inspection there were 20 people living at the service in one purpose-built building.

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

People felt safe with staff. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed and staff understood how to help keep people safe. Processes in place ensured staff recruitment was appropriate with a range of pre-employment checks completed.

Staff were attentive to people’s needs and cared for them as individuals. People’s needs and choices were recorded following assessment. Care provided was personalised and considered their preferences and wishes.

The registered manager monitored staff deployment and ensured enough staff were on duty. People and relatives described care staff as knowledgeable and skilled and felt their privacy and dignity was respected.

People lived in an environment designed and fully equipped to support and maintain their independence.

People’s health needs were being met. The service worked closely with other health professionals and external agencies to support people with their health and wellbeing.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control in their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively about the management of the service and their openness to feedback and the development of the service. They told us the registered manager was approachable, listened to them and maintained regular contact.

For more details, please see the full report, which is on the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 18 March 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about food and nutrition. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the effective section of this full report.

We looked at infection control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.