• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Heversham House

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Heversham, Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7ER (015395) 63769

Provided and run by:
Mrs Isobel Hellena Wales

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Background to this inspection

Updated 24 May 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 24 April 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector.

We spoke with a range of people about the service. They included eight people who lived at the home, three relatives, the registered manager and two staff members. Prior to our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. We also looked at information we had from those who commissioned the services. This was to help us in gaining a clear picture of the service provision.

We looked at all the care plans, read four in detail, and looked at the daily notes that related to those care plans. This included support plans, risk assessments and daily monitoring records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service. These included audit records, policies and procedures, accident and incident reports and training records. We looked at the recruitment, induction and training records of staff recently employed to work in the service.

We looked at the records of medicines and we checked on the quantity and storage of medicines in the home. We saw risk assessments, risk management and moving and handling plans and charts that helped staff record care delivery.

Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about this service. We reviewed notifications of events the provider had sent to us since the last inspection. A notification is information about important events, which the service is required to send us by law.

The registered provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 24 May 2018

The inspection took place on 24 April 2018 and was unannounced. At the last inspection in November 2015 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained good. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Heversham House 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.

Heversham House accommodates up to 13 older people. It is situated in a village close to the market town of Milnthorpe on the edge of the Lake District. The home is a detached Georgian house with many original features and has been adapted for its current purpose. There is an attractive and private walled garden.

There was a registered manager at the home. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they felt safe at the home and were “very happy” and “very satisfied” with the care and support they received. One person told us, “Nowhere is home but I think this is as good as it can be." We saw people who lived at the home were clean and well dressed and all spoke well of the management and staff. They looked relaxed and comfortable in the care of staff supporting them.

The service had a safeguarding policy and staff had undertaken safeguarding training and could explain the process. Staffing levels were consistent and flexible and staff recruitment was robust.

Health and safety records were in place and regular checks had been undertaken. Arrangements were in place for contingency planning for foreseeable emergencies and for moving people in the event of fire. Accidents and incidents were recorded and there were individual and general risk assessments in place for people and covering the premises. We looked around the home and found it had been maintained and was a clean, homely and a safe place or people to live. We saw that equipment in use had been serviced and maintained as required.

Medicines management systems were safe and staff had undertaken appropriate training in medicines administration. Staff were being appropriately trained for their roles and well supported by the registered manager. Systems were in place to give staff the opportunity to discuss their work and have appraisals.

We observed regular snacks and drinks were provided between meals to help make sure people received adequate nutrition and hydration. People who lived in the home told us they were happy with the variety and choice of meals being provided and that there was always a choice.

People who lived at Heversham House and their relatives knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaints procedure was available and systems in place to manage complaints.

The registered manager understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant they worked within the law to support people who might lack capacity to make some of their own decisions. People living in the home were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible, and the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Quality assurance surveys were used to seek the views of people who used the service and there were a number of audits in care being carried out to monitor systems. We found people had access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs were being met.