Archived: Holly Lodge Care Home

Holly Lodge 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.

Holly Lodge Care Home accommodates 40 people in one adapted building across two separate floors. The ground floor accommodation is for people with nursing or residential care needs. The first floor is a residential unit where some of the people were living with a dementia type illness. On the day of our inspection there were 39 people using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like 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.

We last inspected the service in September 2015 and rated the service as ‘Good.’ At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’ and met all the fundamental standards we inspected against.

Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and risk assessments were in place. The registered manager understood their responsibilities with regard to safeguarding and staff had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults.

Appropriate arrangements were in place for the safe administration and storage of medicines.

The home was clean, spacious and suitable for the people who used the service, and appropriate health and safety checks had been carried out.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to meet the needs of people who used the service. The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant vetting checks when they employed staff.

Staff were suitably trained and received regular supervisions and appraisals.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People were protected from the risk of poor nutrition and staff were aware of people’s nutritional needs. Care records contained evidence of people being supported during visits to and from external health care specialists.

People who used the service and family members were complimentary about the standard of care at Holly Lodge Care Home.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people’s independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible. Care plans were in place that recorded people’s plans and wishes for their end of life care.

Care records showed that people’s needs were assessed before they started using the service and care plans were written in a person-centred way. Person-centred is about ensuring the person is at the centre of any care or support plans and their individual wishes, needs and choices are taken into account.

Activities were arranged for people who used the service based on their likes and interests and to help meet their social needs.

The provider had an effective complaints procedure in place and people who used the service and family members were aware of how to make a complaint.

The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place. Staff said they felt supported by the registered manager. People who used the service, family members and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service via meetings and surveys.

We found care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way which ensured people's safety and welfare. One person who lived at the home told us, 'The girls are very good - I ring the buzzer and someone comes.' Another person said, 'I feel I'm well catered for.' One visitor told us, 'They have done so well for (my relative). She is so frail now and I'm grateful they have cared for her so well at a really important time.'

The provider had made suitable arrangements to protect vulnerable people and respond appropriately to any allegation of abuse.

When we visited the home we checked improvements had been made in the way medicines were handled at the home following our previous inspection. We found People were now protected against the risks of unsafe use or management of medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place.

The provider had taken steps to make sure people at the home were protected from staff who were unsuitable to work with vulnerable people by carrying out thorough background checks.

We found the provider had an effective system in place to identify, assess and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people using the service and promote their health and wellbeing.

We found care and treatment at the home was planned and delivered in a way which ensured people's safety and welfare. One relative told us, 'The care my (relative) receives is very good. I certainly have no complaints. I talk a lot to the staff about it - they're very good at that.'

We looked at the way medication was handled at the home. We found people were not protected against the risks of unsafe use or management of medicines because the provider did not have appropriate arrangements in place.

We found staff received appropriate professional development. People told us they were happy with the support they received from staff. One relative said, 'I couldn't fault the care my (relative) gets here, just proper old fashioned care.'

People who used the service, their representatives and staff were asked for their views about the care and treatment offered. We saw their responses were acknowledged and acted on. When we spoke with people at the home, they told us their care was 'very good' and they were 'well looked after.'