Archived: Rock Lea

Updated 21 July 2015

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 22 May 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care lead inspector.

As part of the inspection we also looked at records and care plans relating to the use and storage of medicines. We also looked at care records, which included looking at five people’s care plans and risk assessments to help us see how their care was being planned with them and delivered. We also looked at the staff rotas for the previous month, staff training and supervision records and records relating to the maintenance and the management of the service and records regarding how quality was being monitored.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. We looked at the information we held about notifications sent to us about incidents affecting the service and the people living there. We looked at the information we held on referrals that had been made to the local authority safeguarding team, any concerns raised with us and any applications the manager had made under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

During the inspection we spoke with the14 people who lived in the home, three care staff, domestic staff, the supervisor on duty and the registered manager. We observed care and support in communal areas and at lunch time. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk to us.

Updated 21 July 2015

This unannounced inspection took place on 22 May 2015. We last inspected Rock Lea in July 2013. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the seven regulations that we assessed.

Rock Lea is a residential home located in a residential area of Barrow in Furness and is close to local bus routes. The home provides personal care and support for up to 26 older adults. There is a separate unit in the home for up to six people who are living with dementia. People living at Rock Lea have a garden and outdoor seating to use and there is some car parking for visitors. The home provides accommodation on two floors that are both accessible by a passenger lift and bedrooms are for single occupancy. At the time of our visit there were 14 people living in the home.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

We found that service was not being effective in respect of the application of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 as the registered provider had not made sure that procedures were in place in line with the MCA and the associated codes of practice. Therefore staff did not have guidance to consistently respond when decisions were being made on people’s behalf and in their best interests.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report

We spoke with all people who lived at Rock Lea and they made positive comments about their home. They told us that staff were available to help them when they needed assistance and that staff respected their privacy and treated them with “respect” and “consideration”. We saw that the staff on duty approached people in a friendly and respectful way and everyone we spoke with told us that they felt safe and “happy” and “being well looked after” living at the home.

The registered provider had systems in place to make sure people living there were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. The staff we spoke with were aware of their responsibilities in protecting people from harm or abuse. They knew the action to take if they were concerned about the safety or welfare of anyone. We could see that the registered manager had acted quickly and appropriately to support and protect people’s individual rights and had used independent advocacy services to do so.

They service had safe systems for the recruitment of staff to make sure the staff taken on were suited to working there. On the day of the visit there were sufficient care staff available to support the people living there. We saw that care staff had received induction training and on going training and development and had supervision once employed.

The environment of the home was welcoming and the communal areas were decorated and arranged to make them homely and relaxing and we found that all areas were clean and free from lingering unpleasant odours. We noted some minor maintenance issues with damaged plaster and paintwork and worn lounge carpets which detracted from the décor but did not present a safety risk to people living there.

Medicines were being safely, administered and stored and we saw that accurate records were kept of medicines received and disposed of so all of them could be accounted for.

People knew how they could complain about the service they received and information on this was displayed in the home. People we spoke with were confident that action would be taken in response to any concerns they raised.