Vale Lodge Residential Home

Updated 21 September 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 one inspector 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.

Service and service type

Vale Lodge 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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with ten people who used the service, four relatives and one friend about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the provider, registered manager, and the chef. We also spoke with four health professionals who regularly visited people at the home. 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 four people’s care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment, training 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. We looked at documentation related to innovation and best practice, meetings and governance processes.

Updated 21 September 2019

About the service

Vale Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to 19 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 20 people. Accommodation is provided over two floors. There is a communal lounge, a communal dining room and garden.

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

People were safe living at Vale Lodge. Staff were recruited safely, and safeguarding processes were in place to help protect people from abuse. Risks associated with people's care had been assessed and guidance was in place for staff to follow. Care plans were detailed, person centred and evidenced that people and their relatives were consulted about their care preferences.

People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed and other risks to their health and wellbeing were managed safely. The provider had good systems to manage safeguarding concerns, accidents, infection control and environmental safety.

People benefitted from suitably trained, competent and skilled staff. This meant their healthcare and nutritional needs were met. External professionals were complimentary about how the service worked in partnership with them.

Vale Lodge provided a person-centred service. The management team and staff used activity and mental stimulation to reduce people’s anxiety and depression and maintain cognitive functioning. This reduced the need for medication because people were settled and occupied. The service had an ethos of involving relatives, many of whom played an active role in supporting their family member and others at Vale Lodge.

Staff were caring and kind and had developed positive and meaningful relationships with people. People were respected, included in decisions and their privacy and independence promoted. The care provided was sensitive to people's diverse needs. The registered manager sought to include them in all aspects of the service, for example training and governance processes. All information was provided in an accessible format, which meant people could make a meaningful contribution to their community.

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.

The provider's quality assurance systems were effective. The registered manager was well supported by a team of staff with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. There was an open, transparent and positive culture at the service. An ‘open and honest’ board in a communal area displayed recent audits of accidents and incidents, medication and infection control, as well as the homes values and training programme.

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 8 June 2018) and there were two breaches of regulation. 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 inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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