Archived: Vale House

We observed staff delivering care in a polite and friendly way, respecting people's dignity and privacy. We looked at care plans for three people and they included appropriate health and personal information. Care plans were person centred and individualised, including records of people's likes and dislikes.

We spoke with four people who used the service. One person told us 'I love it, I'm happy full stop.' Another told us 'I'm quite happy with how they run the home.' A third person said 'They (the staff) are very good with us, I enjoy joining in with things.'

We spoke with three staff members who demonstrated a good understanding of safeguarding issues and were confident of following the procedures.

We saw that there were good standards of hygiene and cleanliness and that infection control measures were in place.

We observed people being cared for by staff who were appropriately trained and qualified for their employment. We saw that training was ongoing and staff were supported in their professional development.

We saw evidence of regular audits and that the home had plans in place to gain feedback from people who used the service and/or their representatives in order to inform continual improvement. There was a complaints procedure in place and complaints were followed up appropriately.

We saw that the home was warm and that there were adequate numbers of staff on duty. We observed that staff delivered care competently and efficiently and treated the people who used the service with respect. The standard of cleanliness of the home was quite poor and improvements needed to be made in this area.

We looked at four care plans and saw that the information contained within them was factual and accurate. Records were up to date and there was evidence of the involvement of people who used the service and their relatives in their care provision.

We spoke with three people who used the service and one visitor. One person told us 'they look after us well' and another said 'they keep the rooms nice and clean'. A visitor to the service told us 'the staff are very caring and very accommodating to visitors.'

We looked at policies and procedures and noted that all appropriate policies were in place. We spoke with three staff members who demonstrated a commitment to the service.

We saw evidence of a complaints procedure and looked at the complaints log, which showed that issues had been followed up appropriately. We were told by the people with whom we spoke that the staff were approachable and would sort out any issues immediately they were brought to their attention.