13 October 2015
During a routine inspection
The inspection took place on 13 October 2015 and was unannounced.
The home provides accommodation for a maximum of 34 people requiring personal care. There were 34 people living at the home when we visited. A manager was in post when we inspected the service who had recently applied to become the registered manager. 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.
The home has two units, each with 17 people. Forget Me Knot Unit was for early stages of dementia and Holly Rise Unit is for people who require additional support and assistance. Each Unit provides residential care to people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection the dependency level of people living in the home was higher on the first floor (Holly Rise Unit) than those living on the ground floor (Forget Me Knot Unit.)
People within the Holly Rise Unit were more likely to require support but less likely to be able to articulate their needs. However, people were not always able to access the support they required from staff within the Holly Rise Unit. Staff were occupied with tasks or supporting other people and could not ensure everyone received the support they needed.
People did however, like and feel safe around the staff. People and relatives thought highly of the staff who they felt understood how to support their family member.
People told us they were helped by staff to take their medicines as they should. The way in which staff supported people was also reviewed periodically to ensure people received the right medication.
People within the Holly Rise Unit were more likely to require support to ensure their dignity was protected by staff caring for them. People’s dignity was not however always preserved in the Holly Rise Unit. Although staff understood what caring for someone with dignity meant, staff were often occupied with other duties which meant that people’s individual support was compromised.
Staff did not always support people with individual interests in the Holly Rise Unit. Although additional staff were being recruited to support with activities, people did not receive the support they needed to pursue individual interests. The lack of dedicated help meant that people were not given the opportunity to take part in meaningful activities to occupy their time.
Staff received regular supervision and training. Staff could access further training if they required it. Staff also understood the requirements of the law and supported people to make decisions about their care.
People were encouraged to make choices about their meals. Staff understood people’s health requirements so that people received the correct support in order to maintain a healthy diet.
People and their relatives understood how to complain if they needed to and that they could approach individual staff members about issues if they needed to.
People’s care was not however always rigorously monitored to ensure staff had access to all the necessary information to care for them. Although the provider had made some suggestions for improvements, completion of these tasks had not been monitored.