Archived: The Lindens

Updated 28 June 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was conducted by one inspector, an inspector manager and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

The Lindens is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was unannounced.

Inspection site visit activity started on 4 June 2019 and ended on 5 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection:

Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, the local authority and health care professionals.

Our plan took into account information the provider sent us since the last inspection. We also considered information about matters the provider must notify us about, such as events involving injury. We obtained information from the local authority commissioners and safeguarding team and other professionals who work with the service.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection:

We visited the home and met people. We also saw the registered manager, the provider, care staff, relatives, a vicar and two health care professionals. We reviewed care records and policies and procedures. We reviewed four people's care records, five staff recruitment and personnel files, staff training documents and other records about the management of the service.

After the inspection:

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to corroborate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 28 June 2019

About the service:

The Lindens is a residential care home that was providing personal care to 12 older people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 15 people. The Lindens accommodates people across two separate floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities and a stair lift. Some of the people living in the home had a diagnosis of early stage dementia. The home is situated close to the centre of Haslingden.

People's experience of using this service and what we found:

People were supported to be safe and said that they felt safe. Staff received robust safeguarding training and had a good understanding of the principals involved in taking action when abuse was suspected. There was an open and transparent culture in relation to accidents and incidents. Medicines were managed safely. The provider had a recruitment process but there were issues in some of the files we looked at. We have made a recommendation about this that can be seen in the 'Safe' section of this report.

People's needs were met through robust assessments and support planning. The service worked with healthcare and social professionals to achieve positive outcomes for people. Staff and carers had good knowledge and skills and this ensured people's needs were well met. We saw good examples of when people had been supported to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

People told us carers and staff were compassionate and kind and during the inspection, we observed this to be the case. Management and staff knew people well. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People received care and support that was person-centred. We saw good examples of how the care and support people received enriched their lives through meaningful activities. The service had a robust complaints policy. There was an end of life policy in place that could be used if appropriate.

The values and culture embedded in the service ensured people were at the heart of the care and support they received. The registered manager and provider planned and promoted holistic, person-centred, high-quality care resulting in good outcomes for people. People knew how to feedback their experiences and this was considered and acted upon by the registered manager and provider. Staff told us they received good support from management.

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

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection, the service was rated good (published 14 December 2016).

Why we inspected:

We carried out this inspection based on the previous rating of the service.

Follow up:

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