Linden Lodge Nursing Home

Updated 17 December 2020

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe, and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 23 November 2020 and was announced.

Updated 17 December 2020

This inspection took place on 22 May 2018. The inspection was unannounced.

Linden Lodge Nursing Home is a care home registered to provide nursing care and accommodation for a maximum of 75 people. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The home is situated in rural North Warwickshire and the accommodation is on three floors. The ground floor provides residential accommodation for people living with dementia. The first floor provides accommodation for people requiring nursing care. There are four bedrooms on the second floor, predominately for people who receive residential care.

We last inspected Linden Lodge Nursing Home in February 2017 when we rated the service as 'Requires Improvement' in the key question of safe and well-led. We found risk was not always mitigated, medicines were not always managed safely and quality monitoring checks were not consistently effective. This meant the overall rating of the service was 'Requires Improvement'. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the service is now rated as 'Good' overall.

The service has a registered manager. This is a requirement of the provider's registration. 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.

The home was well-led by an experienced management team who were enthusiastic about the service and committed to providing good standards. Staff received appropriate training and support, understood their roles and responsibilities and had confidence in the management team. The provider and registered manager used their own quality assurance checks, together with feedback from people, staff, relatives and visitors to the home, to identify where improvements in service provision were required.

There were sufficient nursing and care staff to provide the support and stimulation people required to promote their wellbeing and to keep them safe. People felt safe with staff who understood their responsibilities to protect people from avoidable harm, neglect and discrimination. Any risks to people’s health and wellbeing were identified in their care plans and plans put in place to minimise those risks. People were protected from environmental risks within the home.

People received good healthcare and were referred to external healthcare professionals when a need was identified to maintain their health. Staff who gave people their prescribed medicines demonstrated a good knowledge and understanding of how to do this safely and following best practice. The provider had a strong commitment to supporting people and their relatives before and after death, and the service was accredited under the Gold Standards Framework (GSF).

People's ability to make decisions was assessed in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff offered people choice and respected the decisions they made. Where restrictions on people had been identified, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards authorisations were in place to lawfully deprive people of their liberty for their own safety.

Staff showed compassion, encouragement and empathy towards people and ensured people’s views and opinions were heard. Staff were interested in what people had to say and liked to find a common interest to generate discussions. People were offered opportunities to engage in, and experience, different and stimulating activities both inside and outside the home. Activities offered opportunities for social engagement and supported people’s mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.

People were encouraged and supported to eat and drink enough and were positive about the quality and variety of their meals.

The design and decoration of the premises promoted people's wellbeing and supported staff to use equipment safely. The home was clean and tidy and staff followed the provider’s policies and procedures to ensure people were protected from the risks of infection.

People, relatives and staff said communication was good at Linden Lodge Nursing Home and they were confident any concerns or issues would be addressed. Where accidents and incidents had occurred, learning was taken and shared to ensure improvements in care delivery were made. The registered manager encouraged a collaborative approach to problem solving to ensure any learning became embedded within the practice of the home.