Archived: The Poplars

Updated 4 March 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 21 October 2015 and was announced.

The inspection was conducted by one inspector.

Before our inspection we reviewed previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

During our visit we spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, three support workers, three people living in the home and two healthcare professionals.

We pathway tracked two people. This is when we follow a person’s experience through the service and get their views on the care they received. This allows us to capture information about a sample of people receiving care or treatment. We looked at staff duty rosters, staff recruitment files, the homes safeguarding policy, feedback from relatives, internal quality assurance audits, medication records, staff feedback records and support and supervision records.

We last inspected the home on 1 December 2013 where no concerns were identified.

Updated 4 March 2016

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, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection was announced because we wanted to ensure people were available to speak with us about their care.

The Poplars is registered to provide care and support for up to six people with different health needs including a learning disability. There is a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

Staff were suitably deployed to meet the needs of each person. Healthcare professionals and people told us they were satisfied with the number of staff working during each shift.

Staff understood the needs of people and care was provided with kindness and compassion. People and healthcare professionals told us they were happy with the care.

Staff were appropriately trained and skilled and provided care in a safe environment. They all received a thorough induction when they started work and fully understood their roles and responsibilities, as well as the values and philosophy of the home. They completed extensive training to ensure the care delivered to people was safe and effective.

The provider had employed skilled staff and took steps to make sure interventions applied were least restrictive and in line with best practice. Healthcare professionals told us they were kept informed when incidents or accidents had occurred.

The registered manager and the deputy manager assessed and monitored the quality of care consistently involving people, relatives and professionals. Each person told us they were asked for feedback and encouraged to voice their opinions about the quality of care provided.

There was a culture of respect, kindness and loyalty in the service. Interaction between staff and people was friendly and encouraging. People we spoke with consistently told us they had frequent opportunity to express their views with staff and management. Professionals consistently told us the leadership in the home was good and always displayed strong values when they visited people.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. These safeguards protect the rights of people using services by ensuring that if there are any restrictions to their freedom and liberty, these have been authorised by the local authority as being required to protect the person from harm. Applications were in the process of being submitted to the local authority.

Records showed referrals to health care professionals were made quickly when people became unwell. Each health care professional told us the staff were responsive to people’s changing health needs.

Care plans were reviewed regularly and people’s support was personalised and tailored to their individual needs.

The provider had effective systems in place to support people with their medicines safely. Records showed medicines that were no longer needed were disposed of correctly.