Archived: Longridge Court

We returned to the home to check whether improvements had been made. We were pleased to see action had been taken and progress had been made in this area. New staff had been recruited to meet contracted hours and cover staff annual leave and sickness. A new rota had been developed that corresponded with the required individual activity plans for people. The rotas and activity plans were being monitored regularly to ensure that activities took place. A new electronic rota system had been implemented that calculated the hours staff were contracted to work, and ensured there were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs.

Care plans had recorded peoples' individual care needs, preferences and their health needs. Staff we spoke with demonstrated a good understanding of peoples' needs and gave us many examples of how they supported people with their care.

Staff knew how to report suspected abuse and allegations of abuse had been reported to the appropriate agencies.

The home had responded robustly to a series of medication errors with improvements in helping to ensure people were given their medicines safely.

We found evidence that there had not always been enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. A complaint had been made by a family member about the lack of regular and planned activities taking place.

Although the provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received we found they had not always taken timely action when issues had been identified.

People were supported to make choices. They and their relatives were listened to and staff had a good understanding of their needs and preferences. People were safe because their needs were understood and risks to their health and wellbeing were well managed. Staff understood their responsibility to protect and advocate for the vulnerable people they supported.

Staff told us they felt well supported by their peers and their manager. Regular staff meetings provided a forum for information sharing, learning and reflection. Individual staff supervision and performance appraisal were not taking place consistently but an action plan was in place to improve this. The home had effective systems in place to monitor quality and safety.

In this report the name of a registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the home at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a Registered Manager on our register at the time.