• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Riverside View Care Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Hutton Avenue, Darlington, DL1 2AQ (01325) 488584

Provided and run by:
Four Seasons (FJBK) Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 3 January 2019

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 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 5 December 2018 and was unannounced. This meant the provider and staff did not know we would be visiting.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and a specialist advisor nurse.

We reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We contacted the commissioners of the relevant local authorities, the local authority safeguarding team and other professionals who worked with the service to gain their views of the care provided by Riverside View Care Home.

We spoke with five people who used the service and one relative of people using the service. We also 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.

We looked at four care plans, seven medicine administration records (MARs) and handover sheets. We spoke with 12 members of staff, including the registered manager, an area manager, two kitchen staff, the activities co-ordinator and care and housekeeping staff. We also spoke with two visiting external professionals. We looked at six staff files, which included recruitment records. We also looked at records involved with the day to day running of the service.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 3 January 2019

This inspection took place on 5 December 2018 and was unannounced. This meant the provider and staff did not know we would be visiting.

The service was last inspected in June 2016. At our last inspection 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. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Riverside View Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The service can provide accommodation and personal care for up to 59 people across two floors. At the time of our inspection 50 people were living there.

There was a registered manager in place. 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. The registered manager was registered in March 2015.

People and their relatives said they felt safe living at the service. Steps were taken to reduce risks to people. Established and effective infection control processes were in place. Plans were in place to support people in emergency situations. People were safeguarded from abuse. People’s medicines were managed safely. The provider and registered manager monitored staffing levels to ensure enough were deployed to provide safe support. The provider’s recruitment processes minimised the risk of unsuitable staff being employed.

People’s support needs were assessed before they moved into the service to ensure effective and appropriate support was available to them. The service worked with a range of external healthcare professionals to support people’s health and wellbeing. Staff were supported with regular training, supervision and appraisal. People 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. People were supported to manage their food and nutrition. The premises were adapted for the comfort and convenience of people living there.

People and relatives told us staff were caring and kind and spoke positively about the support they received. People were treated with dignity and respect. We saw numerous examples of kind and caring support being delivered. People were supported to maintain relationships and social networks of importance to them. Policies and procedures were in place to support people to access advocacy services.

People received person-centred support based on their assessed needs and preferences. People were supported to access activities they enjoyed. Clear procedures were in place for investigating and responding to complaints. At the time of our inspection nobody was receiving end of life care, but policies and procedures were in place to provide this where needed.

The registered manager had informed CQC of significant events in a timely way by submitting the required notifications. This meant we could check that appropriate action had been taken. Staff spoke positively about the culture, values and leadership provided by the registered manager. The registered manager and provider carried out a number of quality assurance audits to monitor and improve standards at the service. Feedback was sought from people, relatives and external professionals. The service was closely integrated into the local community, with relationships that benefited people living there.