Archived: Manormead Care Home

Updated 16 December 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This unannounced inspection took place on 23 November 2016. It was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience who had experience of the care of older people and related services.

We reviewed the information we had about the service prior to our visit. We looked at notifications that the provider is legally required to send us about certain events such as serious injuries and deaths.

During the inspection we gathered information by speaking with 10 people living at Manormead, five relatives, the registered manager, the nominated individual from the Pensions Board, the activities co-ordinator, the chaplain and seven staff.

We observed care and support in communal areas in an informal manner. We looked at four care records and four staff records and reviewed records related to the management of the service.

Updated 16 December 2016

This unannounced inspection took place on 23 November 2016. At the last inspection on 11 June 2013 the service was meeting the regulations we checked.

Manormead Care Home is owned and operated by the Church of England Pensions Board. It is a charitable organisation that offers a variety of services throughout the country to retired clergy, licensed church workers, their spouses, widows and widowers. Manormead can accommodate up to 36 people. There were 28 people living at the home on the day we visited. Some people were living with dementia.

One week before our planned inspection we were informed by the Church of England Pensions Board that after more than 60 years of providing care and nursing at Manormead the home would close on 31 March 2017. They said, “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is paramount, and we will not compromise that in any way.” They went on to explain that over the last couple of years they have found it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain permanent nursing and care staff and their increasing reliance on agency staff was not sustainable in the longer term.

CQC continued with this planned inspection to ensure that people were being well cared for in a safe environment. CQC will continue to monitor the home during this closure period to ensure people and staff are receiving the care and support they need.

The home had a registered manager at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 were safe at the home. The provider took appropriate steps to protect people from abuse, neglect or harm. Training records showed staff had received training in safeguarding adults at risk of harm. Staff knew and explained to us what constituted abuse and the action they would take to protect people if they had a concern.

Staff were familiar with risks people faced and knew how to manage these. Care plans showed that staff assessed the risks to people's health, safety and welfare. This helped staff to understand the impact risks had on a person’s care and well-being.

We saw that regular checks of maintenance and service records were conducted to make sure these were up to date.

There were sufficient numbers of qualified staff to care for and support people and to meet their needs. We saw that the provider’s staff recruitment process helped to ensure that staff were suitable to work with people using the service.

People were supported by staff to take their medicines when they needed them and records were kept of medicines taken. Medicines were stored securely and staff received annual medicines training to ensure that medicines administration was managed safely.

Staff had the skills, experiences and a good understanding of how to meet people’s needs. Staff spoke about the training they had received and how it had helped them to understand the needs of people they cared for.

The service had taken appropriate action to ensure the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were followed. DoLS were in place to protect people where they did not have capacity to make decisions and where it is deemed necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, to protect themselves or others. We saw and heard staff encouraging people to make their own decisions and giving them the time and support to do so.

Detailed records of the care and support people received were kept. People had access to healthcare professionals when they needed them. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs.

People were supported by caring staff and we observed people were relaxed with staff who knew and cared for them. Personal care was provided in the privacy of people’s rooms. People were supported at the end of their lives and had their wishes respected.

People’s needs were assessed and information from these assessments had been used to plan the care and support they received. People had the opportunity to do what they wanted to and to choose the activities or events they would like to attend.

The provider had arrangements in place to respond appropriately to people’s concerns and complaints. People told us they felt happy to speak up when necessary. From our discussions with the registered manager it was clear they had an understanding of their management role and responsibilities and the provider’s legal obligations with regard to CQC.

The home had policies and procedures in place and these were readily available for staff to refer to when necessary. The provider had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. Health and safety and quality assurance audits were conducted by the home.