Archived: Oakmead

Updated 7 January 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 inspection took place on 18 and 19 November 2015. This was an unannounced inspection which meant staff and the provider did not know we would be visiting. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

At our previous inspection on the 15 January 2014 the service was meeting the regulations inspected

A Provider Information Record (PIR) was not requested prior to the inspection. The PIR is a form that the provider submits to the Commission which gives us key information about the service, what it does well and what improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the previous inspection reports of the home and other information we held about the home. After the inspection we contacted professionals involved with the service to obtain their views about the care provided.

During the inspection we spoke with two people living at the home. We also observed the care and support provided to people in the home. We spoke to eight staff which included the registered manager. We spoke with three relatives after the inspection. We looked at a number of records relating to individuals care and the running of the home. These included three care plans, medicine records for three people, one staff recruitment file and three staff supervision and training files, accident/incident reports and audits. We observed staff practices and walked around the home to review the environment people lived in.

Updated 7 January 2016

Oakmead is a care home which provides accommodation and personal care for up to five people with learning and/or physical disabilities.

At the time of our inspection there were five people living in 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The inspection took place on the 18 and 19 November 2015. The inspection was unannounced. We spoke with two people living at the home, two relatives and eight staff which included the registered manager.

Systems were in place to promote safe medicine practices. Some aspects of recording of medicines required improvements. Clear protocols and guidance were not in place to ensure staff who did not have up to date training in the administration of emergency medicines knew what action to take.

Risks to people, staff and visitors were generally identified, addressed and managed. Staff were aware of risks to people and what actions they needed to take to manage the risks. We saw one person was wearing slippers that were too big and put them at risk of falls. Another person did not have a risk assessment in place to manage the risk of pressure sores. The registered manager was liaising with other professionals for their input into that. We made a recommendation that risk assessments should be completed when a risk is identified. The home was clean, well maintained and systems were in place to prevent the risk of cross infection. Accident and incidents were appropriately managed which promoted people’s safety.

People and relatives told us they were happy with the care provided. Relatives described the staff as wonderful, fantastic and excellent. One relative told us they could not fault staff and described how they supported their relative and them during a recent hospital admission. They commented “They could not thank them enough for what they did”.

People were assessed prior to admission to the home. Staff were knowledgeable about the care plans that were in place, which outlined the care and support people required. People’s health needs were met. Staff were caring and had a positive and enabling relationship with people. People’s independence and development of life skills were promoted.

Staff were suitably recruited, inducted, trained and supported to meet people’s needs. They were aware of people’s communication needs and this was being developed. People were supported to make choices and decisions on their care. They had access to a range of activities and community involvement was promoted. Systems were in place to enable people and their relatives to raise concerns and complaints and staff were aware of their responsibility and procedure for dealing with complaints.

The provider had systems in place to satisfy themselves that the home was being effectively managed and monitored. People, relatives and staff were happy with the way the home was run. They were positive about the recent changes in management. Staff described the management team as proactive, dynamic, supportive, empowering and they promoted staff’s learning and development.

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.