Archived: Cedars Care Home

Updated 23 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.

We carried out this inspection on 7 and 8 July 2015 and it was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector.

We observed care and support in communal areas and also looked at the environment. We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and how the home was managed. These included the care plans for eight people. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with four care staff, the regional manager and the registered manager. We asked people for their views and experiences of the service and the staff who supported them.

Before the inspection the registered manager of the service had completed 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.

Before our inspection, we reviewed information we held about the home, which included incident notifications they had sent us. We also contacted the local authority commissioners of the service.

Updated 23 September 2015

We inspected Cedars Care Home on 7 and 8 July 2015. The inspection was unannounced. Cedars Care Home was last inspected in August 2014, no concerns were identified at that inspection.

Cedars Care Home provides residential care for up to 66 older people, including those living with dementia. On the day of the inspection 48 people were receiving care services from the provider. The home had a registered manager. 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.

During our inspection we spoke with six people who used the service and two relatives. We also spoke with four care staff, the registered manager of the service and the registered manager.

During our visit to the service we looked at the care records for eight people and looked at records that related to how the service was managed.

People who used this service were safe. The care staff knew how to identify if a person may be at risk of harm and the action to take if they had concerns about a person’s safety.

The care staff knew the people they were supporting and the choices they had made about their care and their lives. People who used the service, and those who were important to them, were included in planning and agreeing to the care provided.

The decisions people made were respected. People were supported to maintain their independence and control over their lives. People received care from a team of staff who they knew and who knew them.

People were treated with kindness and respect. People we spoke with told us, “Staff are smashing, I have no complaints.”

The registered manager used safe recruitment systems to ensure that new staff were only employed if they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. The staff employed by the service were aware of their responsibility to protect people from harm or abuse. They told us they would be confident reporting any concerns to a senior person in the service or to the local authority or CQC.

There were sufficient staff, with appropriate experience, training and skills to meet people’s needs. The service was well managed and took appropriate action if expected standards were not met. This ensured people received a safe service that promoted their rights and independence.

Staff were well supported through a system of induction, training, supervision, appraisal and professional development. There was a positive culture within the service which was demonstrated by the attitudes of staff when we spoke with them and their approach to supporting people to maintain their independence.

The service was well-led. There was a comprehensive, formal quality assurance process in place. Although these processes did not always identify areas of improvement or where mistakes had been made.

There were good systems in place for care staff or others to raise any concerns with the registered manager.