Archived: Dunley Hall and Ryan's Court

While at the service we saw staff spending time engaging with people. We saw a variety of small group leisure activities taking place. Care workers were heard offering people drinks and a choice of meal. We saw staff assisting people with their food. This was done in a discreet way and maintained people's dignity.

The service had spent time making the home person centred and suitable for people who had a degree of memory loss. Corridors were named such as Daffodil Lane and had memorabilia displayed along them. Outside bedroom doors were 'memory boxes' in which people were able to display items that were important to them. Signage was also in place around the home showing people where bedrooms, lounges and dining areas were located.

Care plans were being reviewed and updated however this was not always on a monthly basis and therefore they were not always totally up to date. We spoke to some of the care workers and other staff about the care needs of people and became aware of some conflicting information or areas where people seemed unsure about current care regimes.

The manager was aware of somebody due to be admitted to the service with a complex medication regime. The manager had written this up to demonstrate to staff the importance of adhering to the set times.

We carried out some audits of medication. Medication left over at the end of the previous month was not always carried over from one months MAR sheets to the next. This made balancing the medication remaining at times difficult although in the majority of cases we were able to establish that the correct number were in place.