This inspection was unannounced and took place on the 28 November and 4 December 2017. Abbeyfield House- Stockport is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection.
We last carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service on 7 September 2016. At that inspection we found the service to be in breach of the regulations relating to identifying and managing risk for people and the environment, gathering people’s feedback about the service and systems for quality assurance.
Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to tell us what they intended to do and by when to improve the key questions; is the service safe and well led to at least good. At this inspection, we found that improvements had been made in all areas.
Abbeyfield House-Stockport is a large extended detached house prominently positioned approximately one mile from Bramhall Village in Stockport. The home provides accommodation for older persons who require nursing or personal care for a maximum of 16 people over two floors. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people living at the home.
Individual and environmental risk assessments were person centred and gave staff guidance on how to minimise and manage identified risks. The service had policies to guide staff on health and safety and infection control. Appropriate health and safety checks had been carried out and equipment was maintained and serviced appropriately.
There was a robust system of quality assurance in place. Weekly and monthly checks and audits were carried out by the registered manager and other managers of the service. These were used to assess, monitor and review the service.
The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. Everyone we spoke with thought the service was well managed and spoke highly of the registered manager.
Staff were aware of their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and were able to demonstrate their understanding of the procedure to follow so that people were kept safe.
The management and administration of people’s medicines was safe demonstrating people received their medicines as prescribed.
There was a safe system of recruitment in place which helped protect people who used the service from unsuitable staff.
There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and staff received the induction, training, support and supervision they required to carry out their roles effectively. Staff meetings were held regularly where staff had an opportunity to raise any issues and were used to look a developing good practise. Staff we spoke with liked working for the service and told us they felt supported in their work.
People who used the service told us they were consulted about the care provided and staff always sought their consent before providing support. Where people were unable to consent to their care and treatment the principles of the MCA had been followed so that decisions were made in the persons ‘best interest’.
People had their nutritional needs met and were very positive about the food provided.
Everyone we spoke with told us they found the staff to be caring and kind. One person said, “The staff are very kind to me, they couldn’t be nicer”, “Yes, the staff are very kind. Most definitely they treat me with respect, they talk to me and ask what I would like, they offer things and they don’t force me to do things I don’t want.”
We found the staff to be patient, caring, respectful and kind. We observed relaxed and friendly interactions. Staff we spoke with took a pride in the care they provided and in the homely atmosphere. People who used the service and visitors we spoke with told us that visitors were always made to feel welcome.
Care records were detailed and person centred. They were written in respectful ways, described people in positively and included information on how to promote peoples independence, including things the person liked to do for themselves. They contained information based on people’s needs and wishes and were sufficiently detailed to guide staff in how to provide the support people required.
People enjoyed the activities on offer at the home, the registered manager encouraged links with the local community.
People felt they were listened to and were involved in developing the service. There was a system for recording and dealing with any complaints.
The service had notified CQC of any accidents, serious incidents, and safeguarding allegations as they are required to do. The provider had displayed the CQC rating and report from the last inspection on their website and in the home.