Lane House Residential Care Home

Lane House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 33 people. The service provides support to older people, some who may have a diagnosis of dementia, a physical disability and or a sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe and happy living at Lane House. People’s risks were managed safely by enough staff who were suitably skilled to meet people’s needs well.

Care records were person centred and staff received training to enable them to support people in the most effective way. People’s dietary needs were met, and people had access to healthcare as required. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and provided compassionate care. People were encouraged to maintain positive relationships with peers and relatives. There were mechanisms in place to report concerns and complaints.

The interim manager was described by staff as approachable and was supporting the staff team through a period of change. There were governance systems in place which the management used to assess and manage the safety and the quality of the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 24 January 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Lane House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was not a registered manager in post because they had recently left. There was however a new manager who had started their registration with us. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People continued to receive safe care. There were enough staff to support them and they were recruited to ensure that they were safe to work with people. People were protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely. Lessons were learnt from when mistakes happened.

The care that people received continued to be effective. They were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff received training and support to be able to care for people well. They ensured that people were supported to maintain good health and nutrition; including in partnership with other organisations when needed. The environment was adapted to meet people’s needs.

People continued to have positive relationships with the staff who were caring and treated people with respect and kindness. There were lots of opportunities for them to get involved in activities and pursue their interests. Staff knew them well and understood how to care for them in a personalised way. There were plans in place which detailed people’s likes and dislikes and these were regularly reviewed. People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and the provider had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they received.

People and their relatives were included in developing the service and found the manager approachable. There were quality systems in place which were effective in continually developing the quality of the care that was provided to them.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were protected from unnecessary harm because staff knew how to recognise abuse and understood how to report their concerns. People’s risks associated with their care were identified, assessed and managed to keep them safe. People’s medicines were managed to ensure they received their prescribed treatments safely.

There were a sufficient number of suitably recruited staff available to care for people and meet their needs. Staff had access to training and support to improve their knowledge of care and enhance their skills.Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people and supporting people when necessary to make decisions in their best interest. People had access to advocacy services to provide them with additional support.

People were provided and supported to enjoy a sociable mealtime experience and received a varied diet. People had access to health care professionals when they needed additional support to maintain their physical, mental and psychological wellbeing. People enjoyed the company of staff who respected their privacy and promoted their dignity. Staff demonstrated a kind and compassionate manner with people.

There were opportunities for people to take part in a variety of activities in the home and trips out. People received the care they preferred because staff asked them and their relatives about their likes and dislikes. People and relatives told us they were very happy with the care. There was a complaints procedure in place to support anyone who wanted to raise a concern.

People, their relatives and staff felt the service was well managed by the provider and registered manager. The registered manager and staff listened to people’s opinions and tailored their care to reflect their choices. Audits and checks were in place to monitor the quality of the service and make improvements where needed.

Below is a summary of our findings based on our observations, speaking to people who used the service, the staff supporting them and from looking at records. If you wish to see the evidence supporting our summary please read the full report.

Is the service safe?

Recruitment procedures were rigorous and thorough.

The service maintained a high standard of cleanliness which reduced the risk of infection.

Is the service effective?

Everyone had a care plan which informed staff how to meet people's needs.

People or their relatives had been involved in the care planning process.

Assessments included people's needs for specialist equipment, mobility aids and dietary requirements.

Is the service caring?

People told us they felt well cared for at Lane House. One person told us: 'The care is second to none'. Another person told us: 'I can do what I like, when I like'.

People were treated with dignity and respect.

Is the service responsive?

People had their care needs regularly reviewed and were fully involved in the review process.

If people became unwell staff responded appropriately to ensure their needs were met.

Is the service well led?

The service did not have a registered manager in place at the time of the inspection. The provider is aware of their requirement to ensure that a registered manager is in place.

Systems were in place to ensure the quality of the service was monitored.

We found that people's care plans had been substantially improved since our previous inspection. People's needs had been thoroughly assessed and risks to their well-being had been identified.

We saw that all staff had completed safeguarding training. There had been no recent concerns about possible abuse of any of the people who lived at Lane House. We found that Lane House was clean and well maintained.

Staff told us that their work had been extended since our previous inspection to include reading care plans and writing daily notes. They told us they had been well supported in this by their manager. They said the changes had increased their enjoyment of their jobs.

We saw that existing systems of quality assurance at Lane House had been improved and that new systems had been introduced to further enhance people's well-being.

We observed staff members being kind and considerate to the people they cared for. They told us they enjoyed working at Lane House and felt well-supported by the manager and their colleagues. We saw that enough staff were available to meet people's needs. However, when we looked at care files, we found that the care plans did not reflect the quality of the care we had observed.

The provider has shown us new formats for care planning which would increase information available to care workers and ensure that people's individual preferences about the delivery of their care were recorded. We will check these again when the new system has been implemented.

We found that people had been kept safe from harm at Lane House but we were unable to verify how many staff had received safeguarding training. We found that systems to monitor the quality of care at the home required improvements.