Greenacres

Updated 19 December 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by three inspectors.

Service and service type

Greenacres is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We reviewed the notifications received from the provider, since the last inspection. The law requires providers to send us notifications about certain events that happen during the running of a service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven staff and the registered manager. We also spoke to a visiting healthcare professional. 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.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 19 December 2019

About the service

Greenacres is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Greenacres provides care and accommodation for up to 62 older people some who have physical needs and some people who are living with dementia. People have varied communication needs and abilities.

The service is set over three floors and is divided into different living units; each unit has its own lounge and dining area. On the day of our inspection the top floor was not being used, due to refurbishment. There were 45 people living in the home.

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

People were happy with the care and support they received at Greenacres. The provider had employed a registered manager and improvements had been made across the service since our last inspection.

Quality assurance processes were now effective at identifying opportunities for improvement and making positive changes to the lives of the people living at the home, and the staff that worked here.

Staff were positive about their roles and the support they received from the registered manager. This had prompted a change in the culture at the home, which was now focussed on continuously improving and learning if things went wrong.

People’s experiences of living here had improved due to a successful staff recruitment drive that had taken place. The home was now predominantly staffed by permanent staff, and agency usage had dropped dramatically since our last inspection. This enabled people to get to know the staff and develop positive relationships with them.

Hazards to people’s health and safety were appropriately mitigated by appropriate risk assessments and staff training. Where accidents and incidents had taken place, these were thoroughly reviewed to understand what had happened and action was taken to prevent a reoccurrence.

People had enough to eat and drink, and they had been involved in the development of the menu. Their meal choices were varied and catered for differing dietary needs. People were supported to eat and drink when needed in an unrushed and dignified way.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s access to activities and events had increased since our last inspection, and further work under the ‘Anchor Active’ initiative was underway, to make them even more personalised and focused on people’s hobbies and interests. People’s care plans reflected their preferences and needs with regards to care and support. Staff understood and supported people in accordance with the care plans and responded well when people’s needs changed.

People told us they would be confident to make a complaint if they felt the need, and that their concerns would be listened to and addressed.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 27 October 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.