Archived: Omega Oak Barn

Omega Oak Barn provides personal care for up to 28 older people. On the day of the inspection there were 23 people living in the home. The home is located in the village of Beadlam close to the market towns of Helmsley and Kirbymoorside. The home does not provide nursing care.

The home had 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.

Staff were able to tell us what they would do to ensure people were safe and people told us they felt safe at the home. The home has sufficient suitable staff to care for people safely and they were safely recruited.

Staff had received training to ensure that people received care appropriate for their needs. Training was up to date in areas the registered provider considered mandatory, such as infection control, health and safety, food hygiene and medicine handling and also in specialist areas of health care appropriate for the people being cared for.

Staff had received up to date training in Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff understood that people should be consulted about their care and that they should assume that a person had capacity to make decisions. They understood what needed to happen to protect the best interests of people who did not have capacity to make certain decisions.

People’s nutrition and hydration needs were met. People enjoyed the meals and they were of a good quality. Clinical care needs were met in consultation with health care professionals.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. We saw staff had a good rapport with people whilst treating them with dignity. Staff had a good knowledge and understanding of people’s needs and worked together well as a team. The atmosphere within the home was one of care and respect. Care plans provided detailed information about people’s individual needs and preferences. Records and observations provided evidence that people were supported to feel cared for and listened to.

People were supported to engage in daily activities they enjoyed and which were in line with their preferences and interests. Staff were responsive to people’s wishes and understood people’s personal histories and social networks so that they could support them in the way they preferred. Care plans were kept up to date when people's needs changed. People were encouraged to take part in their reviews and to give their views, which were acted upon.

People told us their complaints were responded to and the results of complaint investigations were clearly recorded. People we spoke with told us if they had concerns they were always addressed directly with the registered manager who responded quickly and with politeness.

The service was well managed. The registered manager ensured the quality of the service through a system of audits and checks. They sought feedback from people who lived at the home, relatives, visitors and professionals with an interest in the service and acted on this to improve the quality of care.

Due to the early hours of our visit we were only able to speak to one of the people using the service. They told us that they often got up early and liked to sit in the lounge and talk to staff.

There was no evidence to suggest that people had to get up early. The majority of people were asleep and still in bed during our visit.

We spoke with the two staff on duty who told us that there was no pressure to get people up on a morning and that they would support those who wanted to get up early. We saw staff meeting minutes which confirmed this.

Some concerns were raised about people's weight and the quality and choice of food provided. Staff told us that people were offered a choice of cereal, porridge and toast and were offered a cooked breakfast. They told us that there was one option at lunch time and a choice at tea time. Staff told us if people did not like what was on the menu they could request an alternative.

We looked at care records and saw that weight was monitored and dietary advice sought where necessary. We had concerns about one person's weight which have been shared with the local authority. Staff told us that people were well cared for.

People's needs were assessed and their rights were respected by the staff. We saw that people were encouraged to make decisions for themselves or were supported by the staff to make decisions about how they wanted to spend their time. We observed staff treating people kindly and with dignity.

People had care plans and risk assessments in place which helped staff to understand and meet their needs.

There were policies and procedures in place that helped to protect people from abuse. Issues raised were referred to the local authority's safeguarding of vulnerable adults' team for further investigation or advice. This helped to protect and safeguard people.

We saw that staff received training and support which helped provide them with the skills they needed to be able to look after people safely. In the main there were sufficient staff on duty. However, staffing numbers needed to be increased at teatime. The provider agreed to this.

The home had quality monitoring systems in place which aimed to seek people's views. This helped to ensure that people remained happy with the service that they received.

We found the service had better systems of identifying and recording what caused some people to become distressed and agitated. There were guidelines for staff to follow to help people to become calm and relaxed again. And monitoring records were now in place so that it was easier to check whether these incidents were becoming more frequent. This meant appropriate professional guidance could be sought in a timely way if needed.

We found just a small number of people were up and dressed when we visited at 7am. This meant people were not being got up early to meet the care staffs' needs.

People said they were well cared for by staff working at the home. They said "I am well cared for, definitely. They answer our call bells quickly and my family can come and visit. It's a pleasant place to be" and "I am well cared for, I enjoy siting in the garden, I wish I could go out more often though."

We found that some people living at the home experienced better care than others. Some staff told us they found it difficult to meet the needs of people who had more advanced dementia or who were displaying more challenging behaviours. We found that not all staff felt skilled to manage this. We also found that records in this area did not contain sufficient detail.

People told us that they felt safe and that they could raise concerns if they had any. Comments included "I could talk to someone here if I had any concerns" and "I would tell someone if I had any problems but I am quite happy."

Relatives were positive about the care being provided. We received positive comments about the staff and people said 'The staff are all very good, they are really helpful" and "The staff are nice, I get on well with them all'.