The Care Quality Commission
  • Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Sycamore Lodge

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

54 Greenheys Road, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, CH44 5UP (0151) 638 7625

Provided and run by:
Alternative Futures Group Limited

All Inspections

25 February 2015

During a routine inspection

The inspection took place on 25 February 2015 and was unannounced. Sycamore Lodge is part of a group of homes owned by Alternative Futures. The home is situated in a residential area of Wallasey, Wirral. Sycamore Lodge provides accommodation and support for people with learning disabilities. It is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to twelve people, there were two people living there when we visited.

The manager was registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We last inspected the care home on 29 January 2014. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the essential standards that we inspected.

The people had lived at Sycamore Lodge for a considerable number of years and considered it to be their home. There was a small team of eight support staff, including the manager. All of the staff had a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 2 or 3. During our visit we saw that there were enough staff to support people and meet their needs, and everyone we spoke with considered there were enough staff.

The staff we spoke with were able to tell us the action they would take to ensure that people were protected from abuse. All staff had received training about safeguarding. We found that medicines were managed safely and records confirmed that people received the medication prescribed by their doctor. We found that the home was clean and well-maintained. Records we looked at showed that the required safety checks for gas, electric, and fire safety were carried out.

The people living at Sycamore Lodge were unable to communicate with us. The relative we spoke with confirmed that people had choices in all aspects of daily living. Menus were flexible and the staff provided specialist dietary meals as one person had a soft diet and the other person was Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) fed.

The two people who lived at the home were dependent on staff support for all of their personal care needs. They were registered with a local GP health centre and had an annual health check carried out. Records showed that people saw a dentist, optician, and chiropodist as needed.

The care plans we looked at gave details of people’s medical history and medication, and information about the person’s life and their preferences.

The expert by experience commented:

“It would pass the mums test. There is a good atmosphere in the home and there were lots of nice decorative touches designed to meet the sensory needs of the people living there. The staff really enjoy working there and retaining staff meant that people had built up a good relationship with the staff”.

29 January 2014

During a routine inspection

Sycamore Lodge continued to be in the process of moving people to other locations and at this inspection we found only two people still lived at the home. Due to the complex needs of the people being cared for at the home we were unable to ask them their views. However we spent time observing the care provided and spoke to five members of staff including the registered manager and the area manager. We also talked to a relative, the commissioners of the service and an independent advocate.

Comments received included; 'This has been a wonderful service, the carer's really do care', 'We have no concerns about this service, it has always been a good home', 'We have been included in all discussions about our relative's care and have been kept up to date with the move', 'We really do want to make sure the people we care for have the best life they are able to have' and 'We make sure they have access to as many activities as possible and we make sure they are happy and well looked after'.

We spent several hours with the staff and the people at the home and during that time we saw a mutual understanding through speaking, touching, eye contact and body language. We observed a strong relationship between the staff and the people they cared for.

We checked the home's infection control policies and procedures which were up to date and we found the environment clean and tidy with no bad odours. Staff understood how to safeguard vulnerable adults and there were suitable numbers of appropriately trained staff to care for the people still living at the home. We saw that complaints were dealt with appropriately in line with the company's policies and procedures.

11 February 2013

During a routine inspection

At our inspection we found that Alternative Futures was in the process of moving people out of Sycamore Lodge to various other accommodations. We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who lived at the home because the people there had complex needs which meant they were not able to tell us their experiences. We spent time observing the support they received and spoke with two of their relatives and an advocate. They told us they were happy with the care provided and that they had taken part in discussions relating to moving the people who lived at Sycamore Lodge. One person said 'The staff are really good and understand my daughter.' Another told us 'I am quite impressed with the way the staff have taken the effort to understand their (the person's) likes and dislikes.'

We found that Sycamore Lodge had complaints and safeguarding vulnerable adults procedures in place. Sycamore Lodge provided support and training for staff to enable them to look after the people in their care.

18 January and 8 March 2011

During a routine inspection

We were told that patients and carers / families were asked for their views and were involved in the service in a number of ways. A patient satisfaction survey was last undertaken in 2008 and results reported upon with action plans implemented for areas of improvement.

Overall the patient satisfaction survey told us that respondents were satisfied with the support to:

Understand their rights

Communicate their needs and wishes

Be involved in their reviews and planning meetings

Help become more independent.

The results of the survey also told us that overall patients felt that:

The environment they lived in was secure.

They had choice about the staff who support them and that they had control over how they spent their money

The environment they lived in was clean.

Staff are helpful and welcoming.

They were involved in all reviews and planning meetings that take place.

However the survey also told us that only 61% knew how to make a complaint / compliment about the service they received. This issue was addressed with an action plan to improve publicity of the complaints process.

A patient and relatives meeting is held on a regular basis and example meeting minutes were submitted as evidence. The relatives and service user meeting example (2010) demonstrated that a number of patients and their family expressed satisfaction with the service at Sycamore Lodge.

More recently REACH reviews are undertaken for all service users. A REACH review includes speaking to and observing patients to obtain their views and involve them in their individual service plans or health action plans.

The Health Action Plan (HAP) is an individual plan of care that is developed with involvement and feedback by the patient themselves and their carers or families. An example of an individualised support plan was submitted as evidence. This demonstrated the person centred plan of care for the patient. The patient stated in one part of the plan that they were involved in the assessment process before making a decision on moving address.