Archived: Stewart House Care Home

Stewart House is registered to provide accommodation for up to 3 people who require personal care. On the day of the inspection, there were 2 people living at the home. Stewart house provides a respite service for older people.

A registered manager was employed by the service. 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. The registered manager was available throughout the inspection.

People told us they were safe. People were supported by a registered manager who could explain what constitutes abuse and what to do in the event of suspecting abuse. The registered manager had completed safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities.

Where risks to people had been identified risk assessments were in place and action had been taken to reduce the risks. The registered manager was aware of people’s needs and followed guidance to keep them safe. People received their medicine as prescribed.

As a sole carer we saw that the registered manager was appropriately experienced and qualified to deliver care, treatment and support to people. As the home was providing respite care to two people, one carer, (the manager) was sufficient.

The registered manager understood the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and how to apply its principles. However at the time of our inspection there was no one accessing the service that had been assessed as lacking capacity. The MCA protects the rights of people who may not be able to make particular decisions themselves.

People told us they were confident they would be listened to and action would be taken if they raised a concern. We saw the service had received no complaints since our last inspection. The service had systems to assess the quality of the service provided. The service was continually looking to improve.

People told us the service was responsive and well managed. The service sought people’s views and opinions and acted upon them.

We spoke with the person who told us they were very well looked after. They said "I love coming here. The manager is wonderful and the food is lovely". They also told us they felt respected and involved in their care, treatment and support.

The person told us they felt safe at the home and we saw that the provider had taken appropriate measures to ensure people's safety and protect them from abuse.

As a sole carer we saw that the manager was appropriately experienced and qualified to deliver care, treatment and support to people. As the home provided respite care to a maximum of two people, one carer, (the manager) was sufficient.

We saw that the provider monitored the quality of service it provided. They conducted regular safety checks, sought and responded to the opinions of people who used the service. External scrutiny is provided by the local authority contracts monitoring team.

We spoke to the manager who felt that they were supported by other relief staff and family in delivering the service. The manager told us that they were well trained in relation to their role and we found that there were arrangements in place to ensure vulnerable people were safeguarded against abuse.

We found that there were effective monitoring and assessment procedures in place to check standards of service provision quality and to make improvements where identified.