Archived: Friary Lodge

Updated 6 August 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Friary Lodge is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. They were also the provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service, one visitor, two relatives and a visiting healthcare professional for feedback and about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including two senior care workers, one care worker and the chef.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training and quality assurance records.

Updated 6 August 2019

About the service

Friary Lodge is a 'care home.' The service is registered to support up to 15 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, nine people were using the service.

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

There were no assessments about choking for people who were known to be at risk, and no guidance for staff to follow about actions to take in the event of a choking incident. Assessments about other types of risk however were in place and offered staff advice about reducing the likelihood of them happening.

Staff did not always follow processes to minimise the risks from the spread of infection. We have made a recommendation about this.

People were treated with respect, kindness and compassion. People were supported by a staff team that knew them well and understood how to meet their needs. Staff knew how to support people to communicate and express their views. People were supported to maintain relationships with those who were important to them.

People, relatives, staff and a health care professional spoke positively about the service and the care provided.

People were supported to eat and drink healthily and maintain a balanced diet. Menus were not available in an accessible format to help people living with dementia make informed choices. We made a recommendation about this.

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.

Information on how to raise concerns or complaints was available, and people and their relatives were confident any concerns would be listened to and acted upon.

Effective recruitment procedures were in place to check that staff applying for positions were of good character and suitable to provide care and support to people living in the service before they were employed.

Staff had received training in safeguarding adults from abuse and understood their responsibilities and the actions they should take if concerns were identified.

There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet the care and support needs of people.

Some areas of the building needed improvements. We have made a recommendation about this.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. However, these processes had not picked up and addressed the issues we found during this inspection.

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 02 December 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.