Archived: Chiltern Retirement 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.

There was an audit programme in place but the information gained was not used to identify where trends and patterns were highlighted. People and their families were given opportunities to share their opinions and views on the service which was provided.

Staff understood how to recognise and keep people safe from harm, poor care practices and abuse and the action they should take to ensure people were protected. People’s risks associated with their care and health were identified, assessed and managed to reduce these. People and their relatives were happy with the number of staff available to meet their needs. There were suitable processes in place to recruit staff and maintain the environment.

Staff understood the needs of the people they cared for and had the skills to provide care which met their requirements. Some people were unable to make certain decisions about their care for themselves. Staff understood the need to gain people’s consent and the legal requirements in place to protect the people who were unable to do so for themselves.

People were provided with a choice of food and drinks which met their individual needs. People’s health and wellbeing was monitored and the support of healthcare professionals was sought and followed whenever necessary.

Staff knew people well and provided polite, kind and considerate care. People were supported to maintain their dignity and staff recognised the importance of promoting people’s independence. People were supported to maintain the relationships which were important to them as relatives and friends could visit when they wanted to.

Staff gained information about people so that they could provide care which met their preferences. People were offered opportunities to socialise together or spend time pursuing their own interests to prevent them from becoming socially isolated. Staff listened to people’s concerns and there was a complaints policy in place if people wanted to escalate concerns on a more formal basis.

We spoke with people who used the service and their relatives who told us they were happy with the care they received. One person told us, "I am really happy here, the staff do a brilliant job and always listen to me". Staff we spoke with were aware of the individual needs of people and the care plans we viewed contained people's choices in how they wanted to receive their care.

We found that the provider had systems in place to assess the service provided and gain the views of people who used the service.

We saw the routines and daily activities were flexible and staff responded to people's needs. People spoke positively about the staff and the support they provided. One person told us, 'It's not home, but it's the next best thing, I like to be in control of my life and I feel I can do that here.'

We saw people were dressed in individual styles that reflected their age and gender. People told us they could choose how to dress which meant they could express their individuality. We saw that care records contained individuals' personal preferences. We found evidence of a variety of activities and people told us there was something to get involved with if it suited them.

We looked at the way medication was managed and saw that improvements were needed to ensure medication systems and practices were safe and suitable.

We looked at the recruitment procedures for staff and found that suitable systems were in place to protect people.

We found that complaints were dealt with quickly and appropriately but they were not being recorded in the complaints register.