Archived: Victoria House

Updated 18 September 2015

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 inspection was carried out on the 12 of August 2015 and was unannounced. This means we did not give the provider prior knowledge of our inspection. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector. We were also accompanied by an expert-by-experience who took part in the inspection. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

At this inspection we did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Prior to the inspection we reviewed information the Care Quality Commission (CQC) holds about the home. This included any statutory notifications, adult safeguarding information and comments and concerns. This helped us plan the inspection effectively. We also contacted a member of the commissioning authority to gain further information about the home. We received no negative feedback.

During the inspection we spoke with seven people who lived at Victoria House and three relatives. We spoke with the provider who was also the deputy head of care at the home and the registered manager.

We looked at all areas of the home, for example we viewed the lounge and dining area, bedrooms and the kitchen. At the time of the inspection there were 12 people resident at the home.

We looked at a range of documentation which included three care records and three staff files. We also looked at a medicines audit, environmental audit and a sample of medication and administration records.

Updated 18 September 2015

This inspection was carried out on the 12 August 2015 and the first day was unannounced. This means we did not give the provider prior knowledge of our inspection.

We last inspected Victoria House on the 30 June 2014 and identified no breaches in the regulations we looked at.

Victoria House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 12 older people. The home is situated in a residential area of Poulton-le-Fylde and is close to shops and local amenities.

Victoria House is well served by public transport, being on a bus route and close to the railway station. There are two lounges and a dining area situated on the ground floor, with individual bedrooms on the ground and first floors. A stair lift is in place for ease of access to the upper floor.

The home has a manager who is registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

There were systems in place to ensure people who used the service were protected from the risk of harm and abuse and the staff we spoke with were knowledgeable of the action to take if they had concerns in this area.

Staff were knowledgeable of peoples’ assessed needs and delivered care in accordance with these.

There were arrangements in place to ensure people received their medicines safely.

Processes were in place to ensure that people’s freedom was not inappropriately restricted and staff were knowledgeable of these.

During the inspection we saw independence was promoted wherever possible. We saw people were supported to mobilise and engage in an organised activity with patience and understanding. People were referred to other health professionals for further advice and support when appropriate

People told us they liked the food provided at Victoria House and we saw people were supported to eat and drink adequately to meet their needs and preferences.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and we saw appropriate recruitment checks were carried out to ensure suitable people were employed to work at the service. Staff were supported by the registered manager and the owner. Staff received regular supervision to ensure training needs were identified. There was a programme of training in place.

There was a complaints policy in place, which was understood by staff and was available in the bedrooms of people that lived at the home. The deputy head of care and the registered manager monitored the quality of service by carrying out checks on the environment, medicines and records. People were encouraged to give feedback to staff, which was acted upon.