9 July 2015
During a routine inspection
This inspection was carried out on 9 July 2015 and was unannounced.
Stuart House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 38 older people. There were 30 people living at the home at the time of our inspection. There was a registered manager in post. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
When we last inspected the service on 18 November 2013 we found them to be meeting the required standards. At this inspection we found that they were not meeting all of the fundamental standards and were in breach of regulations 12 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) 2014
Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are put in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves or others. At this inspection we found that the home worked in accordance with current legislation but there were some areas that required improvement.
People received care that met their needs and they were positive about the staff that supported them. However, we found that care plans, which included people’s risk assessments, were not always up to date or robustly assessed.
Staff knew people well and were attentive to the needs. There were effective relationships between people and the staff who supported them.
People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts and had regular access to health care professionals. However, medicines were not managed safely and further training for staff was needed in some subjects.
People, their relatives and staff were positive about the management team. However, systems to monitor the quality of the service and address issues needed improvement.