Archived: The Gables Care Home

This inspection was unannounced and took place on 26 January 2016.

The home had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 provider had failed to notify the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of important events that had occurred in the home.

The CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care services. Staff had received training and had an understanding to ensure that where people lacked the capacity to make decisions they were supported to make decisions that were in their best interests. People were only deprived of their liberty where this was lawful.

The provider had a robust recruitment process in place and staff were only employed within the home after all essential safety checks had been satisfactorily completed.

People’s privacy and dignity were respected at all times. Staff sought, and obtained, permission before entering people’s rooms to provide personal care. People’s health, care and nutritional needs were effectively met. People were provided with a varied, balanced diet and staff were aware of people’s dietary needs. Staff referred people appropriately to healthcare professionals. People received their prescribed medicines and medicines were stored in a safe way.

Wherever possible people or their families were involved in the planning of the care that they received. The provider had an effective complaints process in place which was accessible to people, relatives and others who used or visited the service.

The provider had effective quality assurance systems in place to identify areas for improvement and appropriate action to address any identified concerns. Audits completed by the provider and registered manager showed the subsequent actions taken, which helped drive improvements in the home.

We found one breach of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

We saw that people had been given accurate information about the fees they would have to pay. Records showed that people had been correctly charged for the facilities and services they had received.

People said or showed us that they received all of the health and personal care they needed. Records confirmed that assistance had been provided in a safe, reliable and responsive way.

We found that the provider had measures in place to help safeguard people from abuse.

People said that the accommodation was comfortable and homely.

Records showed that security checks had been completed on staff to help ensure that only suitable and trustworthy people were employed in the service.

We saw that there were measures to check that people were reliably provided with the facilities and services they needed.

People received the care and support they required to improve their health and well-being. Care records were written in detail and provided clear guidance to staff members, although evaluations of care plans were not always completed.

People were provided with a choice of meals and staff members assisted them appropriately with eating and drinking if this was required. One person told us that their meal was, 'Delicious'.

Medicines were stored appropriately and records were maintained to show all storage areas were kept at the correct temperature. Administration records were kept and people received their medicines in a safe way.

The service had a policy and procedure to guide people and visitors in how to make a complaint and information about taking complaints further. We observed that staff members took people's concerns seriously, even if they were not able to easily identify the nature of the concern or resolve it.

Recruitment checks were not always carried out or obtained prior to new staff members starting work with the service.