• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Geraint House

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

28 Uppingham Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 0QD (0116) 276 5971

Provided and run by:
Geraint House

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile
Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

20 July 2016

During a routine inspection

The inspection took place on 20 and 21 July 2016. The visit was unannounced.

Geraint House is a residential home which provides care to people with mental health needs. It is registered to provide care for up to 11 people. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people living 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager responsible for nursing was managing the service at the time of the inspection.

People using the service we spoke with said they thought the home was safe. Staff had been trained in safeguarding (protecting people from abuse) and understood their responsibilities in this area.

People's risk assessments provided staff with information of how to support people safely.

People using the service told us they thought medicines were given safely and on time.

Staff were not always subject to robust character checks to ensure they were appropriate to work with the people who used the service.

Staff had been trained to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to meet people's needs though more training was needed with regard to people's health conditions.

Staff generally understood their main responsibility under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to allow, as much as possible, people to have an effective choice about how they lived their lives.

People had plenty to eat and drink and everyone told us they liked the food served.

People's health care needs had been protected by referrals to health care professionals when necessary.

People told us they liked the staff and got on well with them, and we saw many examples of staff working with people in a friendly and caring way.

People and their representatives were involved in making decisions about their care, treatment and support.

Care plans were individual to the people using the service and usually covered their health and social care needs, though more detail was needed to ensure specific health advice was discussed with people and included in care plans.

There were sufficient numbers of staff to ensure that people's needs were responded to in good time and on-call arrangements in place if more staff were needed.

Activities were organised to provide stimulation for people and they could take part in activities in the community if they chose.

People told us they would tell staff if they had any concerns and were confident they would be followed up to meet their needs.

People, staff and a healthcare professional we spoke with were satisfied with how the home was run by the registered manager.

Management carried out audits and checks to ensure the home was running properly to meet people's needs, though not all essential systems had been audited.

13 May 2013

During a routine inspection

We spoke with six people living in the home at the time of the inspection. All the people we spoke with, except one person, said they were satisfied with the care they received.

A person told us that she thought staff were supportive to her; 'I can talk to staff when I need to. They try to help me'.

We spoke with the relatives of four people. They all told us that they thought care was good, or generally good, and staff were always friendly and welcoming.

One relative said; 'staff are brilliant. I'm impressed with the manager and the care that staff give the people there'.

This was a positive inspection. Everyone living in the home except one person told us they were satisfied with the care provided. All their relatives we spoke with said that care was good or generally good. The essential standards we inspected were found to have been met.

There were some suggestions; for staff to always write down messages so they always remember to give information to the next staff shift. For more in-house activities to be provided. And the thermostat to be moved to the lounge so that heating levels can be properly maintained in cool weather.

30 May 2012

During a routine inspection

We spoke with seven people who lived in the service about their views of the care provided by the service.

The people we spoke with were either satisfied or very satisfied with staff and the care they received. Staff were seen to be very good at their jobs, friendly and caring. One person said: 'It is very relaxed here. We can live our lives the way we want'. Another person said: 'The staff are great. They will always help you when they have time'.

24 January and 24 February 2011

During a routine inspection

One person who used the service told us 'staff don't come into your room, no-one does, we have none of that'. They were able to locate the key to their bedroom door and said that although they couldn't lock the door from the inside, they got privacy when they were in their bedroom, so they did not need to lock it.

The same person told us they went to a peer support network at a drop in network centre and had a 'partial advocate' who visited them at the home.

One person said "you can come and go as you please' and we saw that people were wandering freely both around and outside the home.

One person said that they were not formally asked for their opinion on how things were run, but 'you can say". They also told us "(named the manager) is exceptionally good, if you needed anything you could have it'.

One person told us ' I know I have a care plan, it's kept in the office but I don't understand it. I don't understand a lot of the long words'. Another said 'care plans are kept in the office, they let you have a look at it when you want to have a look'.

One person also told us that "the staff ask for my opinion. I have had the flu jab and a blood test every 4 weeks' and 'I get asked whether I do or don't want to do something'.

We observed a washing area on the first floor and one person said that they did some of their own washing, but that ironing could sometimes get too much for them so staff do that for them.

One person told us 'I would like more to do but I go to cafes and staff took me into town for clothes'. Another person told us they regularly went to Church and that the home paid for a taxi to take them into Leicester when they wanted to go out.

One person said 'we are pretty well looked after here.'

People who used the service told us 'you can go into the kitchen if there is no food (being prepared) in there'; "I prefer vegetarian food, they do vegetarian things' and 'the food is average, but it does me'. One person said they had enjoyed the previous day's meal, which they described as a roast dinner. They said 'we had chocolate gateaux and fresh cream for afters' and 'you can have a drink anytime and a snack'.

One person who used the service told us that they saw the district nurse regularly. Another confirmed that they had attended the GP surgery for an examination.

One person who used the service told us "I feel safe living here'.

One person told us they received the medication they needed.

One person told us 'I'm quite happy, it's OK as far as I'm concerned'. They also said 'I enjoy sitting out in the garden having a cigarette in the Summer.'

One elderly person who used the service told us that they managed the stairs alright using the handrail to hold onto and that they were safe without using the stair lift.

One person who used the service told us 'the staff are quite friendly."

One person who used the service told us that staff would come if they needed help at night but added 'I would like to get out more but there's not enough staff.' Another person said they would like the chance to make more friends.

One person who used the service told us that they felt that the staff understood their needs.

A coffee morning was held on a Monday for people to meet and they were encouraged to raise issues on an informal basis. People confirmed that they could share their views.

One person who used the service said 'if I have a complaint I try to speak to the staff but they are usually busy'. Another person said that some concerns they had raised about food had been written down by a staff member. This person went on to say 'I would know how to make a complaint, we have a residents meeting every 4 weeks to say what we like'.

People who used the service asked staff if they wanted to see their records and two people confirmed that they could see them if they wanted.