Archived: ExtraCare Charitable Trust The Rose Garden

At the time of our visit the service was being managed by an interim manager. The registered manager was absent. We spoke with the interim manager and four members of staff. We reviewed the records relating to the management of the home. This included seven care records, five staff personnel records, policies and procedures, and minutes of meetings.

At the time of our visit the service provided personal care to 37 people who live at The Rose Garden retirement village.

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what people using the service and staff told us, what we observed and the records we looked at. We used the evidence we collected during our inspection to answer five questions.

Is the service safe?

People told us that they felt safe. Individual risk assessments were well completed and actions to minimise the risks identified were reflected in care plans. Service wide risk assessments, together with the actions to reduce those risks, were reviewed regularly.

The provider had appropriate policies and procedures in relation to safeguarding that were applied in practice. Staff had received training. Allegations of abuse had been investigated and reported appropriately.

Appropriate systems and processes were followed with regard to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff had received training and were clear about their role and responsibilities.

Is the service effective?

People's needs were assessed and care plans developed. People told us that they had been involved in developing their care plan. Care plans reflected both the needs and wishes of people. Staff had a good knowledge of people's care needs.

Staff had access to a range of relevant training to meet the needs of the people they cared for. Policies and procedures were appropriate, up to date, and reflected current research and guidance.

Is the service caring?

People told us that the care they received was very good. One person told us, "It is all so wonderful." Another told us, "Every single member of the care staff are so very kind." We observed staff speaking to people in a friendly, caring and respectful manner.

People told us that the staff supported them to attend the activities and additional services available to them within the retirement village.

Is the service responsive?

People told us that the service was very responsive. One person told us, "The staff are so approachable. They will do their best to do anything you ask." People felt able to raise any issue and were confident that it would be acted upon. People were able to express their views about their care and care workers through a service delivery audit.

People who used the service and staff were clear about the complaints process. No one we spoke to had ever had the occasion to raise a complaint. However people were confident that if they did it would be acted upon.

Is the service well-led?

Staff told us they had felt unsupported and unappreciated in the last few months due to the management arrangements at the service. The provider had, within the last week, allocated additional management support to the service as an immediate response to the concerns raised by staff. The registered manager was not at the service at the time of our inspection; however, the interim manager assured us that they would improve the communication with staff.

Staff were not adequately supported or supervised at the time of our visit. We have asked the provider to provide us with a report to tell us how they intend to address this.

There were systems and processes to monitor the quality of the service. However recently these had not been fully implemented. We were assured that there were plans in place to address this.

People told us that they felt safe and one person told us that since moving to the village and using the care service they no longer felt lonely. People generally considered that staff provided the care they needed and expected. One person gave us an example of the service responding to their needs by changing the time of one of their calls. Another person told us, "it is an ideal place" and gave us an example of the staff responding quickly when they were taken ill. One relative commented, "they do a grand job".

The people we spoke with described the staff as caring and hardworking. While people understood that this was not always possible, they liked it best when they had a regular team of carers who got to know their needs well. The service aimed to maintain stable staff cover and to use their own relief staff in preference to agency workers. Staff felt some pressure from occasional staff shortages and from the way the staff workload was organised.

The service had a well organised management structure with the support of an established national organisation. There were arrangements to monitor the quality of the service.