• Care Home
  • Care home

Aspen Lodge Care Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

222 Weston Lane, Southampton, Hampshire, SO19 9HL (023) 8042 1154

Provided and run by:
Aspen Care Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 29 August 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 10 and 11 July 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors 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.

Before the inspection we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that helps gather information about the service and helps to inform the inspection. We reviewed information we held about the home including previous inspection reports and statutory notifications. A notification is information about an important event which the service is required to send us by law. We also reviewed information contained within the provider’s website.

As part of our inspection we spoke with 12 people living at the home, and six relatives. We spoke with one of the registered managers, three senior care assistants, three care assistants, the cook and the housekeeper. We also spoke with a visiting complimentary therapist.

We looked at care plans and records for four people. We reviewed six staff member files, staff rotas, accident and incident records, policies and procedures, quality audit records and investigation reports. We reviewed five medication records for people. We observed care and support being delivered in communal areas. 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 with us.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 29 August 2018

Aspen Lodge is a residential care home for 20 people with a range of needs including people living with dementia and mental health needs. The service is arranged over two floors and at the time of the inspection there were 17 people living in the home.

This inspection took place on 10 and 11 July 2018. The inspection was unannounced, this meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

At our last inspection in December 2016 we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. The inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People who use the service were kept safe by a service that maintained safe premises and equipment. Staff took steps to reduce risks to people and understood their responsibilities to protect people from abuse. Medicines were managed safely and people were protected from the risk of infection. People's needs were met by appropriate levels of suitable staff.

People received effective care which met their needs. People had access to services to support their health and wellbeing. People's nutrition and hydration needs were met and people told us the food was "very good". People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

We made a recommendation for the service to improve the physical environment for people living with dementia.

Staff were caring, compassionate and kind to people and protected their privacy and dignity. Staff were passionate about providing high quality care. People told us they were treated with respect.

People received care which was responsive to their needs. Staff knew the people they supported including their personal histories and preferences and provided individualised care.

We made a recommendation for the service to seek guidance to improve end of life care plans for people using the service.

Staff, people and relatives fed back positively about the registered managers and the support they received. The service had strong values to provide a "home from home" and recruited staff based on their caring nature. There had been an improvement in submission of statutory notifications since the last inspection.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.