Archived: Alexander House

Updated 30 December 2017

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 was an unannounced inspection and took place on 5 December 2017.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also considered notifications made to us by the provider, safeguarding alerts raised regarding people living at the home and information we held on our database about the service and provider.

During our visit there were 15 people living at the home. We spoke with four people, four relatives, three staff and the registered manager. We observed the care and support that staff provided, was shown around the home and checked records, policies and procedures. These included the staff training, supervision and appraisal systems and home’s maintenance and quality assurance systems.

We looked at the personal care and support plans for three people and two staff files.

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.

Updated 30 December 2017

This was an unannounced inspection that took place on 5 December 2017.

Alexander House is a care home for up to 16 older people situated in East Sheen.

The home had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the last inspection in November 2015 all the key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led were rated good and there was an overall rating of good.

People and their relatives found the home was a very pleasant and homely place to live with staff providing very good support and care, in a respectful way, that they enjoyed. People were able to do as they wished and join in the activities provided if they wanted to.

The atmosphere at Alexander House was warm, welcoming, enabling and inclusive. The visitors during the inspection said, they were always made welcome. The home provided a safe environment for people to live and work in and was clean and well maintained.

The records kept were thorough and up to date with care plans containing fully completed, clear information that was regularly reviewed. This meant staff were able to perform their duties appropriately.

Staff knew people they worked with and their likes, dislikes, routines and preferences well and treated everyone equally. They had the required skills, qualifications and were focussed on providing individualised care and support for people, in a professional, friendly and compassionate manner. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to treat people equally and respect their diversity and human rights. They treated everyone equally and fairly whilst recognizing and respecting people’s differences. The registered manager and staff made themselves accessible to people and their relatives. Staff told us they had access to good training and support.

People were protected from nutrition and hydration associated risks with balanced diets that also met their likes, dislikes and preferences. People and their relatives told us that the choice of meals and quality of the food provided was what they wanted and enjoyed. People were encouraged to discuss health needs with staff and had access to community based health care professionals, if they required them.

The registered manager and staff were approachable, responsive, encouraged feedback from people and consistently monitored and assessed the quality of the service provided.