The Retreat Care Home

The Retreat Care Home is a care home that provides personal care for up to 20 older people. At the time of the inspection 16 people were living at the service. Some of these people were living with dementia.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives told us they were happy with the care they received and believed it was a safe environment. One person said; “Oh yes, I feel absolutely safe and am very happy here. I give them 10 out of 10”. People looked happy and comfortable with staff supporting them. Staff were caring and spent time chatting with people as they moved around the service.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were recruited safely in sufficient numbers to ensure people’s needs were met. There was time for people to have social interaction and activity with staff. Staff knew how to keep people safe from harm.

The environment was safe, and people had access to equipment where needed. Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely, including safeguarding training.

People were supported to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately.

Records of people's care were individualised and reflected each person’s needs and preferences. Risks were identified, and staff had guidance to help them support people to reduce the risk of avoidable harm.

People were involved in menu planning and staff encouraged them to eat a well-balanced diet and make healthy eating choices.

People and their families were given information about how to complain and details of the complaints procedure were displayed at the service. The management and staff knew people well and worked together to help ensure people received a good service. People, their relatives and staff told us the management of the service were hands on, approachable and listened when any concerns or ideas were raised.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good. (Report published on 11 April 2017.)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated Good.

The service had 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.

On the day of the inspection staff within the service were relaxed, there was a calm and friendly atmosphere. Everybody had a clear role within the service. Information we requested was supplied promptly, records were organised, clear, easy to follow and comprehensive.

People were comfortable with staff and we observed positive interactions between people and staff. Care records were personalised and gave people control over all aspects of their lives. Staff responded quickly to people’s change in needs. People or where appropriate those who mattered to them, were involved in regularly reviewing their needs and how they would like to be supported. People’s preferences were identified and respected.

Staff put people at the heart of their work; they exhibited a kind and compassionate attitude towards people. Strong relationships had been developed and practice was person focused and not task led. Staff had appreciation of how to respect people’s individual needs around their privacy and dignity.

People’s risks were managed well and monitored. People were promoted to live full and active lives. Staff were motivated, and creative in finding ways to overcome obstacles that restricted people’s independence.

People had their medicines managed safely. People received their medicines as prescribed, received them on time and understood what they were for. People were supported to maintain good health through regular access to health and social care professionals, such as GPs, social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

People we observed were safe. The environment was uncluttered and clear for people to move freely around the home and equipment was well maintained. All staff had undertaken training on safeguarding vulnerable adults from abuse, they displayed good knowledge on how to report any concerns and described what action they would take to protect people against harm. Staff told us they felt confident any incidents or allegations would be fully investigated.

People were supported by staff that confidently made use of their knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act (2005), to make sure people were involved in decisions about their care and their human and legal rights were respected. Families were involved in decision making where necessary. The service followed the laws and processes were in place which protects people’s human rights and liberty.

People were supported by staff teams that had received a comprehensive induction programme, and tailored training and ongoing support that reflected their individual’s needs.

People were protected by the service’s safe recruitment practices. Staff underwent the necessary checks which determined they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults, before they started their employment.

The service had a policy and procedure in place for dealing with any concerns or complaints.

No written complaints had been made to the service in the past twelve months.

Staff and relatives all described the management to be excellent, supportive and approachable. Staff talked positively about their jobs. The registered manager was supported by the nominated individual, a manager and two assistant managers.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place. Incidents were appropriately recorded and analysed from trends. Learning from incidents and concerns raised was used to help drive improvements and ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service. Inspection feedback was listened too to further enhance quality of care.

People we spoke with were happy with the home's standards. The comments we received included 'it is a wonderful place, they treat you very well,' and 'I love it, the staff are very helpful and they work very hard.'

Everybody we spoke with told us staff were kind, supportive and treated them with respect and dignity. Nobody who we spoke with had any concerns or complaints.

The accommodation was furnished, decorated and maintained to a high standard. The home was very clean and there were no offensive odours. Some additional work needed to be completed to ensure the building's health and safety standards were maintained appropriately.

The medication system was well organised and operated effectively. There were satisfactory numbers of staff on duty. Staff training provision was to a satisfactory standard.

The service had a suitable quality assurance system to ascertain the views of people.

We spoke with five people using the service, three visitors, one member of staff and the registered manager. Everyone we spoke with was happy with the service they received. One person told us, 'If I compare it, it is one of the best I can think of.'

We found people's privacy and dignity were respected. We heard the staff were courteous, friendly and polite. We saw that care was provided by trained staff who knew the needs of people well.

We looked at safeguarding procedures; this is how the service ensured people using the service were protected from harm. We saw suitable systems were in place to support and protect vulnerable adults.

We looked at the recruitment procedures for staff and found that the necessary checks had been carried out prior to staff working in the service. This meant vulnerable adults were suitably protected.

We checked the records were stored safely and correctly and systems were as required. This was to ensure people's confidential information was stored appropriately.