As part of this inspection we spoke with nine of the fourteen people who lived at the home. Five people were unable to communicate their views with us so we observed how they were being supported. We spoke with six staff working at the home on the day of our visit and had discussions with the newly registered manager. We reviewed extracts from care and support plans as well as other records referred to within this report.People told us that they were very happy living at the home and were satisfied with the service that they received. One person told us 'I'm very happy here. I feel like I came to the right place. It's my home from home'.
Some people told us that there wasn't much to do and our observations on the day of the visit supported this. People said that they watched the television and most were happy to do this. One person told us however, 'There is not much to do. I don't watch television so I just go to sleep'. The manager told us that they were looking to appoint an activities coordinator to introduce a program of activities in the future.
Overall people liked the meals at the home. We were told that if people didn't like what was on the menu for the day that they could have something else. One person who had a special diet however told us that they did not like their meals. We saw their food to look unappetising and bland. We discussed this with the manager who said that they were looking at the presentation of liquidised foods to make it look and taste more appetising.
Care plans were seen to be in need of review and updating. One person's care plan could not be found during our visit. Some essential information was missing from plans and staff were unaware of certain details as to how to keep people safe. Although we did not see any evidence that this had caused people actual harm the potential was there and so prompt action was required and subsequently taken by the manager. The manager was aware of the issues in relation to the care plans and said they had a plan in place to introduce new ones.
People told us that they felt protected and staff said that they were confident to recognise and report abuse. The manager was aware of their role in relation to reporting alleged abuse to the local authority. On the day of our visit,however, they had not yet fully actioned requirements made by them following the recent investigation.
We looked at staff recruitment files. The manager was aware of the requirements in relation to ensuring checks were carried out on people prior to them starting work at the home. We found that not all of this information was available for review despite the manager recently reviewing files. We also found that the manager did not keep induction records to demonstrate that staff had received instruction and training in relation to the job that they had been recruited to do.
The manager had not yet implemented quality assurance tools to identify if people were receiving a good service. Basic health and safety checks were seen to be being completed throughout the home however personal risk assessments were not sufficiently detailed to ensure staff could reduce risks to people's health and wellbeing. Outcomes of an external monitoring review had also not been appropriately acted upon.