Archived: Nazareth House - East Finchley

A recent quality survey issued to people using the service and/or their representatives included positive comments about the quality of the care provided. Comments included 'the home is warm and comfortable as well as meeting their devout spiritual needs'. Other comments included 'good helpful service' and 'the staff are excellent'.

The purpose of this visit was to review the improvements that the home had made in

response to Warning Notices which had been issued by the Care Quality Commission

(CQC) to ensure the heath and wellbeing of people using the service was met and to ensure people were protected by accurately maintained records. We found that Nazareth House ' East Finchley had met the requirements of the Warning Notices issued.

We found however, that proper steps had not been taken to ensure that appropriate care planning was in place for managing the risks associated with weight loss. The delivery of care did not adequately monitor and manage the risk of weight loss and there was a lack of evidence that changes in people's healthcare needs were always acted upon ensuring that people's healthcare needs were fully met.

We found also that accurate and appropriate records in respect of each person were not accurately completed and in some cases poorly completed. Care plans did not always clearly specify people's needs and did not always include appropriate information in relation to the care and treatment provided to each service user. This means that people were not always protected against the risk of unsafe or inappropriate care as accurate records were not accurately maintained.

One of the people we spoke with told us that they see the GP 'every month and in between if there are any problems.' People told us that there were no issues with the way the home managed their medication. They told us 'I have my medication very regularly, one of the women brings it around, and medication is not missed.'

A person told us they felt safe at the home and said 'there are three night staff who looks in on me to make sure I'm OK'.

People told us that staff 'keep the place very clean' and commented that staff keep their room and the home 'pretty clean'.

A person commented 'there are two men who work here all the time and they repair things very quickly for example if something is wrong in the bathroom or lights not working.'

We were told that the 'staffing levels are very good' and that 'it's nearly all women working here.' A person told us that there was 'normally somebody about'. We were told that the 'women are quite intelligent' and commented that they felt that staff had received adequate training. We were told that staff were 'pretty good at their job' and that 'everyone is so kind'. One of the people told us that they were counting their blessings that they were living at the home.

A person using the service told us that residents' meetings took place on a monthly basis and they are sent minutes of the meetings and newsletters. They told us that they discussed any important events coming up and introduced any new staff members or people who had recently moved into the home.

A person told us that they felt able to raise a concern by 'talking to the Sisters' and commented that they felt 'they would listen, but that doesn't mean that anything would be done about it'. Another person told us that they had raised concerns that they felt some staff did not understand their needs. Another person commented that they would complain but 'there is nothing to complain about'.