Archived: Alinthia House

Updated 4 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One adult social care inspector undertook this inspection.

Service and service type:

Alinthia House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

One of the registered providers was the registered manager. Registered mangers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. This included correspondence we had received and notifications submitted by the home. A notification must be sent to the Care Quality Commission every time a significant incident has taken place. Prior to the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This form asks the provider to give some key information about the home including what the home does well, and any improvements they plan to make in the future. We sought feedback from the local authority’s quality assurance improvement team.

This information was reviewed and used to assist with our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with six people, one relative, two staff, the registered providers and a community nurse. We also received an email from a close friend of one of the people living at the home. We reviewed the care records for two people with complex support needs as well as looked at how the service managed people’s medicines. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service, including two staff personnel files, staff training records, complaints records and quality assurance audits.

Updated 4 June 2019

About the service: Alinthia House is a residential care home registered to provide accommodation for up to seven older people who require personal and nursing care. The home does not provide nursing care. People who live in the home receive nursing care through the local community health team. The home provides both short and long-term care. The home accommodates up to seven people in one adapted building. Accommodation is provided over two floors, with a stair lift giving access to the first floor. Seven people were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

We received very positive feedback about the care and support provided at the home. People felt safe and well cared for. This was reflected in the comments we received from a relative and a friend of a person living at the home. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to safeguard people.

People were protected from avoidable harm associated with their care needs, such as developing pressure ulcers or not eating enough to maintain their health. Since the previous inspections in July 2018, improvements had been made in how the home assessed and mitigated risks.

Some improvements were required in how the home recorded people's capacity to consent to care and for authorisation to restrict people's liberty to keep them safe.

There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to ensure people’s needs were met. However, some improvements were still required to ensure the suitability of staff employed.

People’s preferences were respected and staff were attentive to people’s needs. Staff were seen to be kind, caring and friendly and it was clear staff knew people well.

The home organised social activities which people enjoyed.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Medicine management practices were safe.

The environment was safe and equipment regularly serviced to ensure it remained in safe working order.

Quality assurance processes undertaken by the providers ensured people received care that was safe and which met their needs and respected their preferences. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care.

We made two recommendations for the providers to improve the information they obtain from staff prior to them starting work at the home, and to seek guidance in relation to mental capacity assessments, best interest decision making and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

More information is in the Detailed Findings below.

Rating at last inspection: At the last comprehensive inspection in April 2018, the home was rated 'Requires Improvement' overall, with the key questions of effective, caring and responsive rated 'Good'. (report published May 2018). A focused inspection took place in July 2018 where the ratings for the key questions of safe and well-led, remained 'Requires Improvement'.

At this inspection we found the home met the characteristics of ‘Good’ for all key questions: The home’s overall rating has improved to ‘Good’.

Why we inspected: This was planned inspection based in the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the home to ensure good quality care is provided to people. We will return to visit in line our re-inspection programme.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.