Archived: The Hollies

This inspection took place on 11 August 2015 and was unannounced. At our last inspection in April 2015 the service was not meeting the standard in relation to the safe management of medicines. At this inspection we found that the service was now meeting this standard.

The Hollies is a care home for older adults. The maximum number of people they can accommodate is 19. On the day of the inspection there were 19 people residing at the home.

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.

People told us they felt safe at the home and safe with the staff who supported them. They told us that staff were patient, kind and respectful. They said they were satisfied with the numbers of staff and that they didn’t have to wait too long for assistance.

People were positive about the staff and staff had the knowledge and skills necessary to support them properly. People told us that the service was responsive to their needs and preferences.

The registered manager and staff at the home had identified and highlighted potential risks to people’s safety and had thought about and recorded how these risks could be reduced.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and told us they would presume a person could make their own decisions about their care and treatment in the first instance. Staff told us it was not right to make choices for people when they could make choices for themselves.

Food looked and smelt appetising and staff were aware of any special diets people required either as a result of a clinical need or a cultural preference.

There were systems in place to ensure medicines were handled and stored securely and administered to people safely and appropriately.

People had good access to healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists, chiropodists and opticians and any changes to people’s needs were responded to appropriately and quickly.

People told us staff listened to them and respected their choices and decisions.

People using the service and staff were positive about the registered manager. They confirmed that they were asked about the quality of the service and had made comments about this.

People felt the management took their views into account in order to improve service delivery.

After our inspection of 16 and 17 April 2014 the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements for the breaches we found. We undertook this unannounced focused inspection to check that the breaches of legal requirements had been addressed.

These breaches related to the safe management of medicines and the appropriate and effective assessment of risk to people’s safety.

We undertook this focused inspection on 8 April 2015 to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for The Hollies on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

The Hollies provides care and support for up to 19 older people some of whom have dementia.

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.

At this inspection we found that the provider had addressed one of these breaches of legal requirements. However, we found a continued breach in relation to the safe management of medicines.

We found that people were not always getting the medicines they needed and staff were sometimes making mistakes when recording the administration of medicines.

The registered manager and provider had set up a system for checking the medicine records for everyone at the home however; this audit had not identified some errors that had been made.

The staff at the home, who had been given responsibility to administer medicines, did not have up to date training in the safe management of medicines.

This was in breach of Regulation 13 (1)(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010, which corresponds to regulation 12 (1)(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Risk assessments had been completed for all people who used wheelchairs, and footplates were being used for most people. Where a person did not want to have footplates attached to their wheelchair the risks and benefits had been discussed with them and this had been recorded and was being regularly reviewed.

After our inspection of 16 and 17 April 2014 the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements for the breaches we found. We undertook this unannounced focused inspection to check that the breaches of legal requirements had been addressed.

These breaches related to the safe management of medicines and the appropriate and effective assessment of risk to people’s safety.

We undertook this focused inspection on 8 April 2015 to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for The Hollies on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

The Hollies provides care and support for up to 19 older people some of whom have dementia.

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.

At this inspection we found that the provider had addressed one of these breaches of legal requirements. However, we found a continued breach in relation to the safe management of medicines.

We found that people were not always getting the medicines they needed and staff were sometimes making mistakes when recording the administration of medicines.

The registered manager and provider had set up a system for checking the medicine records for everyone at the home however; this audit had not identified some errors that had been made.

The staff at the home, who had been given responsibility to administer medicines, did not have up to date training in the safe management of medicines.

This was in breach of Regulation 13 (1)(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010, which corresponds to regulation 12 (1)(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Risk assessments had been completed for all people who used wheelchairs, and footplates were being used for most people. Where a person did not want to have footplates attached to their wheelchair the risks and benefits had been discussed with them and this had been recorded and was being regularly reviewed.