Ferndale Residential Home

We found the following examples of good practice.

The provider had systems in place to support safe visiting at the service. Visitors were required to provide a negative lateral flow COVID-19 test and proof of COVID-19 vaccination prior to entering the service. In addition, visitors were required to complete COVID-19 screening questions and have their temperature taken.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) was required to be worn by all staff and visitors to the service. Staff had received training during the COVID-19 pandemic on the safe wearing, use and disposal of PPE. Competency checks and themed discussions had been held to ensure staff continued to apply good infection prevention control (IPC) practice.

People had been encouraged to maintain contact with their families and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic through use of video and telephone calls. As visiting restrictions eased the provider reviewed the protocols in place and made amendments in line with government guidance. This included promotion of window visits, garden visits and use of a dedicated screened room. The provider had promoted the role of the essential care giver, recognising the positive impact on people's wellbeing this made. People were supported to visit relatives who lived outside of the service.

All staff employed at the service had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccination. The provider had maintained a record of COVID-19 vaccinations of the staff.

At the last inspection the service was rated good, however; they were in breach of one legal regulation. The systems in place for the administration of people's medicines were not always safe. During this inspection we found that the provider had carried out improvements in this area and the service was no longer in breach. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

The service did not have a registered manager. 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. A new manager had been appointed and they were being supported by an experienced manager. We found that statutory notifications were not always sent to the CQC straight away, however; the management team at the service took immediate action to rectify this during the inspection.

People felt safe living at the service and staff were aware of the action they should take to safeguard people from abuse. Risk assessments were in place to ensure people's safety and staffing levels were sufficient to meet people's needs. Staff had been robustly recruited to ensure they were of good character and suitable for their roles.

Staff members had the training and support they needed to ensure that people's needs were being met. People's consent to their care, treatment and support was sought and, where necessary, the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) were applied. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People enjoyed the food and drink provided at the service and staff worked with people to ensure their nutritional needs were being met. In addition, we saw that appointments with healthcare professionals were supported and changes made to care plans based on their advice.

There were positive relationships between people and members of staff. Staff were kind and compassionate and worked to ensure that people and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care. People's privacy was maintained at all times and staff treated people with dignity and respect.

People received person-centred care. Pre-admission assessments were carried out and care plans were written and regularly updated to ensure they were reflective of people's needs. Activities took place to ensure that people were active and stimulated and further improvements were planned. Feedback, including complaints, was welcomed by the service and used to help drive improvements.

There was a positive and open culture at the service. Staff were motivated to perform their roles and felt well supported by the new management team at the service. Quality assurance systems were in place at the service and used to develop action plans and improve the quality of care provided by the service.

Ferndale Residential Home provides care and accommodation up to 30 people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 30 people living at the home.

The home had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection, however they were absent from the service on the day of this inspection. 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.

There were effective processes in place to manage people’s medicines. However, medicines were not always administered in a safe way.

Staff were aware of the safeguarding process. Personalised risk assessments were in place to reduce the risk of harm to people, as were risk assessments connected to the running of the home, and these were reviewed regularly. Accidents and incidents were recorded and the causes of these analysed so that preventative action could be taken to reduce the number of occurrences.

There were enough skilled, qualified staff to provide for people’s needs. The necessary recruitment and selection processes were in place and the provider had taken steps to ensure that staff were suitable to work with people who lived at the home. They received training to ensure that they had the necessary skills to care for and support the people who lived at the home and were supported by way of supervisions and appraisals.

People had been involved in determining their care needs and the way in which their care was to be delivered. Their consent was gained before any care was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were met.

People had enough variety of nutritious food and drink available to them. However, there were not always choices available that reflected people’s individual dietary requirements and people were not always supported to eat their meal in a way that enhanced the mealtime experience for them

Staff were kind and caring and protected people’s dignity. Staff treated people with respect and supported people in a way that allowed them to be as independent as possible.

There was an effective complaints system in place. Information was available to people about how they could make a complaint should they need to and the services provided at the home. People were assisted to access other healthcare professionals to maintain their health and well-being.

People and staff were encouraged to attend meetings with the manager at which they could discuss aspects of the service and care delivery. People were asked for feedback about the service to enable improvements to be made. There was an effective quality assurance system in place.

During this inspection we identified that there had been a breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 as people’s medicines were not always administered in a safe way. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.