We reviewed all the information we hold about this home and carried out a visit on 16 August 2012. During our visit we observed how people were being cared for, spoke with people who used the services, looked at the records of people who used the service and talked with staff who worked in the home. We were supported on this inspection visit by an expert by experience who had personal experience of using or caring for someone who used this type of care service. We involved people who have had experience of using care services to help us improve the way we inspect services.
Our visit to Meadowyrthe was unannounced which meant no one who lived or worked there knew we were coming. We carried out this review as part of our routine schedule of planned reviews and to check that improvements had been made following our last inspection visit in December 2011.
During our visit to the home we watched to see what life was like for people who lived in the there. We spent time speaking with the manager, deputy manager, six people who lived at the home, four visiting relatives and five members of staff.
Some of the people that used the services at Meadowyrthe have dementia and therefore not everyone was able to tell us about their experiences. To help us to understand the experiences people had we used our SOFI (Short Observational Framework for Inspection) tool. SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
The expert by experience who took part in this inspection talked to staff and people who lived in the home. They looked at what happened around the home, saw how people who lived in the home got on with each other and the staff that cared for them. They took some notes and wrote a report about what they found. The details are included in this report.
We used a process called 'pathway tracking' to help us examine the standard of care people received. This involved us looking at care plans, speaking with people about the care they received and talking with staff about how they provided support. This process helped us to find out whether people were getting appropriate care that met their needs and supported their rights. We found that staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about the care requirements of the people who lived at the home.
Before this inspection visit we received an anonymous concern about staff working at Meadowyrthe. This was related to the outcome of employment checks. We discussed this with the registered manager who told us that concerns had been discussed with the human resources department of the organisation and risk assessment measures had been put in place.
During this inspection visit we had concerns about the number of staff on duty at the home. We noted that there were insufficient staff to support people with personal care and activities. We spoke with the Managers at the home about this. They told us that they were currently looking at staffing levels with a view to making improvements.
The manager forwarded further details to us related to their review of staffing levels in the home on the 21 August 2012. This showed us details of the analysis tools they were using to look at the dependency levels of people living in the home. We were told that part of their review of staffing would involve looking at the services the home provided.
We saw that staff knew people at the home well and spoke with them in a friendly, respectful way. We observed that people sought out the company of members of staff and it was evident from people's body language and facial expression that they were comfortable with them. Risks to people's health and well being had been identified and measures had been put in place to protect people.
The family members we met and spoke with told us they were happy with the care their relative received. They spoke highly of the staff and described them as kind and caring. One person said, "I am happy with the care my relative receives. The staff keep her calm and relaxed. I am always made welcome by the staff." We observed that visiting families were made welcome and offered a cup of tea as they sat and chatted with their relative. We saw that family members were able to approach care staff and ask about their relative's day.