We carried out a review of the data available to us about Ilford Park Polish Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Ilford Park Polish Home, you can give feedback on this service.
People’s experience of using this service:
• The service met characteristics of good in all areas.
• The service had safe systems around safeguarding and risk assessment and implemented the least restrictive principle to promote people's safety and rights.
• People and relatives told us staff were kind and caring and they felt well cared for. They could express their views about the service and provide feedback.
• People were treated with dignity and respect.
• People were supported to take their medicines in a safe way, but handwritten changes to medicines records were not always recorded and signed by two members of staff. We made a recommendation to the provider about this.
• People were assisted to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems at the service supported this practice.
• There was enough staff on duty at the right time to enable people to receive care in a timely way.
• The provider had procedures in place to ensure potential staff were suitable to work at the service. We made a recommendation to the provider about reviewing their recruitment policies.
• Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to perform their roles effectively.
• People's care was personalised to their individual needs. Some care plans, daily records and risk assessments would benefit from further person-centred information to ensure staff had the information they needed to provide responsive care.
• People were supported by staff to maintain good nutrition and hydration.
• We received mixed feedback about the meals provided by the home. Food was discussed at resident’s meetings and the chef regularly met with people. The menus were under review to ensure they reflected people’s choices.
• Staff worked well with external professionals to ensure people were supported to access health services and had their health care needs met.
• The service provided a variety of activities in line with people's interests and encouraged people's involvement.
• The environment was comfortable and was adapted to meet people's needs.
• Management and staff demonstrated a good understanding of and response to people's diverse needs.
• Appropriate governance processes were in place to ensure high quality care.
Rating at last inspection: Good (The date the last report was published was 18 August 2016)
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains good.
Follow up: Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated Good.
Ilford Park Polish Home is a care home for older people some of whom may be physically frail or living with dementia. The home provides nursing and residential care for up to 95 people. Ilford Park provides residential and nursing care to former members of the Polish forces, and their spouses, under British command in World War 2. At the time of our inspection there were 78 people living at Ilford Park. The home has retained a strong sense of community and commitment to Polish values and traditions and is affectionately known by its residents, the local community in Devon and Polish organisations as “Little Poland”.
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.
The home environment was unique and was set up to resemble a polish village community. There were four living areas each with their own communal lounge and “streets”, containing people’s private bedrooms, branching off in each direction. All lounges and streets had Polish names such as Warsaw, Wroclaw and Gdynia. A separate nursing unit branched off from Warsaw area. The living areas and streets were all individually decorated to a high level and were light and airy. The home benefits from beautifully tended gardens for people to enjoy. All bedrooms were pleasantly decorated and all were fitted with a call system and had access to bathroom and toilet facilities.
People who live at the home told us they felt safe, and we found that the provider had a number of systems and processes in place to promote safety. Staff received training in and understood their responsibilities in safeguarding of vulnerable adults.
People had care plans that clearly explained how they would like to receive their care and support. Care plans were regularly updated and amended where necessary to meet peoples changing needs. Care plans included an assessment of people's needs and were written to reflect people's individual preferences and wishes. They told us they had read and understood the care plans and ensured they followed them. We found risks to individuals were well assessed and clear plans were in place to minimise these risks.
We looked at the way in which the home managed people’s medicines. Medicines were stored safely and accurate records were maintained. Staff received regular competency assessment checks to ensure the on-going safe management of medicines. Safe systems were in place to manage medicines so people received their medicines at the right times.
Staff were knowledgeable about people living at the home and understood how to meet their diverse needs. We observed warmth and affection between staff and people who lived in the home. People were treated with dignity and respect.
The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Applications had been submitted to the local authority for assessment and authorisation where necessary. Care plans contained assessments of people's capacity to make decisions in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Where people lacked capacity to make a decision we saw documentation of best interests decisions and who had been involved in making those decisions.
Recruitment processes were robust and thorough checks were always completed to make sure staff were safe and suitable to work in the care sector before they started work at the home. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and they were given appropriate training such as how to support people living with dementia.
We were told by some people that they did not enjoy the food. They told us that the menu did not contain enough traditional Polish meals and were not prepared by a Polish chef. The management team were fully aware of the negative comments about the food and were taking action by holding two-monthly meetings and gaining feedback from the weekly social group to discuss the menu and how things could be improved. People told us that they always had enough to eat and were given a choice and could have other foods that were not on the planned menu. The food looked appetising, smelt good and we saw people enjoying their meals throughout the inspection.
Staff supported people to follow their interests and take part in activities. Activities at Ilford Park were approached from an individual perspective and were tailored to people’s hobbies and interests. People said they valued the fact that they were free to move about and do what they wanted to do.
There were systems in place for monitoring the quality of the service and the care and support that people received. If there were areas for improvement that were highlighted through the audit process there were action plans to rectify the issues.
We were told people were treated respectfully, had agreed to care being provided and been involved in their care. One person said 'nobody interferes; I live here peacefully, as I like.'
Relatives were also happy with care at the home. One said they had 'more peace of mind' since their family member had moved to the home and that their health had improved.
People were complimentary about the activities arranged by the home and said they could participate or opt out as they chose.
The people we spoke with told us they felt safe living at Ilford Park. People knew who to speak to if they were unhappy about aspects of their care. Care workers had received training in safeguarding vulnerable adults and knew the correct procedures to follow if abuse was suspected.
People told us they thought the staff were 'wonderful', 'polite' and 'friendly.' One person said 'They must have picked some special people to work here.' We saw there was a robust recruitment and induction process in place for staff.
Records management at the home had improved since our last inspection. Care records were now more detailed with further improvements being introduced.
The home was last visited by the CQC (Care Quality Commission) on 17 May 2010.
The inspection team was made up of two inspectors, a translator and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
The provider may wish to note that the annual events calendar and the activities board were in English and not in Polish, which meant that not everyone would be able to understand it. When we raised this with a manager they agreed to follow it up.
When we looked at people's care plans we saw some evidence that they or their representatives had been involved in completing them. Staff told us that they always discussed with people the ways in which they wanted their care needs to be met. The interpreter commented that staff used great respect and dignity when speaking to people in their native Polish and that staff also addressed people in a kind, respectful and courteous manner.
We asked one person if they felt safe at the home and they said 'well so far'. When asked if the staff were kind they said 'most of them'. Another person, when asked if the staff were kind said 'oh yes, oh yes'.
We were told that everyone at the home had a 'key worker' for day and night time who helped people buy clothes, escorted them to appointments and spent time with them on an individual basis. When we spoke to staff they were able to tell us what they did to support people and knew what to do for them if they needed any additional support.
One person's records contained some life history that had been supplied by their family. None of the other records seen contained this information which meant that staff could be unaware of events in people's lives that could impact on the care they provided. We were told that work was underway to further develop this area so that the information could be used to personalise and enhance people's care. The manager told us that some people chose not to have this information recorded.
We spoke with the cook at the home who told us that they tried to ensure there are Polish alternatives available at all meals. They told us that menus are based on people's likes and dislikes and that special diets such as those for people with diabetes are also available. Our interpreter said that "The lunch was particularly impressive. It was lovely to see everyone interacting and enjoying each other's company. It felt like 'a dinner at mum's'".
The inspection team made a full tour of the communal areas of the home. The home had separate units for people needing nursing care and for those who are more independent as well as for those needing personal care. We found that all areas of the home were clean and well maintained. The managers told us that there was a programme underway to try and make individual units more homely by providing net curtains to the windows and more soft furnishings.
Corridors have Polish 'Street' names and there is a shop selling Polish items as well as chapel with a Polish priest in charge. There were many Polish artifacts and paintings around the home. People also had access to Polish TV.
We saw people's needs were well met by a committed and stable staff team. However, we found that care records did not support the work undertaken by staff and in particular risk assessments were not up to date and did not give staff enough information to ensure care was given consistently. Daily records did not evidence that people's identified needs had been met.
Our interpreter commented "I was very surprised to see a part of Poland in the heart of Devon".