Archived: Elmslea Care Home

Updated 5 August 2016

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 was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, and to look at concerns raised about the service.

We undertook a focused inspection of Elmslea Care Home on 20 June 2016 and 12 July 2016. This inspection was carried out after concerns were raised. We inspected the service against two of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe? and Is the service effective?

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector and was unannounced.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, including notifications received and concerns raised.

We spoke with three staff members and the registered manager. We also spoke with two people who lived at Elmslea Care Home. We looked at two people's care records, the staffing rota, policies and procedures and other documentation related to training and the management of the service.

Updated 5 August 2016

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 9 and 12 August. After that inspection we received information of concern in relation to the service.

As a result we undertook a focused inspection to look into the concerns. The concerns were about staffing levels and inaccurate rotas, lack of assessments of people’s capacity to make decisions for themselves, some policies and procedures lacking sufficient detail, a policy requesting people not to make ‘false allegations’, lack of safeguarding training and staff supervision. There were also concerns that health and social care professionals were not able to meet with people, and that people were coerced into doing activities the staff or registered manager had chosen for them.

This report only covers our findings in relation to these topics. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Elmslea Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Elmslea Care Home provides care and accommodation for up to 11 people, some of whom have mental health issues or a learning disability. On the day of the inspection nine people were living at the service. Elmslea was in the process of changing the type of service they offer to supported living. Some people were already receiving support through the new service type.

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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they felt safe living at Elmslea and that staff respected their decisions and were kind. Staff were able to describe how they supported people with their individual choices. People told us they chose how to spend their time and felt safe communicating this to staff. Staff were able to give examples of when they had respected people’s decisions about daily activities. People were able to see health and social care professionals when they wanted to. The registered manager supported them to have their relatives or representatives present when important decisions were being discussed.

People’s records reflected what choices they had made on a daily basis. The registered manager was aware of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and had followed these in practice.

The registered manager and staff felt confident recognising and reporting signs of possible abuse. The provider had safeguarding and complaints policies in place which were discussed at residents’ meetings to help people understand them. However, the policies lacked detail about how to make a complaint or report abuse, and what steps would be taken to help ensure people were listened to and supported. The registered manager told us they would update them immediately.

Staff confirmed they felt well supported by the registered manager and saw them regularly. There were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs.