Archived: Acorns Care Home

Acorns Care Home is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide accommodation for up to 27 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. Accommodation is provided over three floors; the home is set in private gardens. There is a car park for visitors to use.

The service has a registered manager in place. 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.

Prior to our inspection in April 2016 Healthwatch (A national healthcare champion service) had recommended an area, other than the dining room be used for activities. At our last inspection of this service on 20 April 2016 we found light pull cords required cleaning to maintain infection control and there were issues with medicines and the safe storage of gloves.

During this inspection found most issues from the last inspection had been addressed. However, the concern with the safe storage of gloves in one area persisted and was not addressed until this inspection. The refurbishment was still on-going. We also found there were new shortfalls regarding infection control, consent and the non-notification of low level safeguarding issues. There were two breaches of regulations. A breach of regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 for non-notification of incidents regarding low level safeguarding issues and a breach of regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.There were ineffective quality monitoring systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service in relation to consent, the environment and infection control. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Staff had training in how to safeguard people from abuse and knew how to raise concerns. Staff were recruited safely and in sufficient numbers to meet people’s needs. Medicine management at the service was robust.

Training was provided in a variety of subjects to maintain and develop the staff’s skills. Supervision and appraisals occurred, which helped staff to identify any further training needs and allowed discussion about their performance.

People’s nutritional needs were met. Staff contacted health care professionals for advice and guidance to help maintain people’s wellbeing.

We observed staff were caring. People using the service and their relatives confirmed this. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives. Their privacy and dignity was respected by the staff. People's personal records were held securely.

People had their needs assessed and care plans and risk assessments were in place, they were being re-written at the time of our inspection to make them more detailed and personalised. Staff understood people’s preferences for their care and support. There was a complaints policy in place, issues raised were addressed.

The service was still undergoing a programme of refurbishment and internal redecoration. Pictorial signage was in place to help people to find their way around. Pictures of local scenes and objects to aid reminiscence were being sought to improve the environment.

People we spoke with told us they were happy with the service they received. People's views were asked for and feedback received was acted upon. Service contracts were in place to maintain equipment so it remained safe to use.

Acorns Care Home is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide accommodation for up to 27 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. Accommodation is provided over two floors; the home is set in private gardens. There is a car park for visitors to use. Staff are available twenty four hours a day to support people.

This service has a registered manager in place. 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 the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff understood they had to protect people from abuse and harm. Staff knew they must report concerns or potential abuse to the management team, local authority or to the CQC. This helped to protect people.

We observed there were enough staff on duty to support people. Staff understood people’s needs and were aware of risks to their health and wellbeing. Staff received training in a variety of subjects to help maintain and develop their skills.

People’s nutritional needs were assessed and monitored. Food provided was home-cooked. People’s preferences and special dietary needs were catered for. Staff encouraged people to eat and drink, where necessary, and assisted people with patience and kindness. Advice was sought from health care professionals to ensure people’s nutritional needs were met.

Visiting health care professionals confirmed the staff sought their advice, reported issues and followed their guidance to help maintain people’s wellbeing.

The service was undergoing a programme of refurbishment and internal redecoration. People’s bedrooms were personalised. Pictorial signage was in place which helped people to find their way around. Service contracts were in place to maintain equipment so it remained safe to use.

Staff respected people’s individuality, privacy and dignity. People made decisions about what they wanted to do and how they wanted to spend their time. Staff supported people to make decisions for themselves, and where necessary, staff reworded questions or information which helped people to understand what was being said.

A complaints procedure was in place for people, relatives and visitors to use to raise any issues.

The registered manager undertook regular audits to help them to monitor, maintain or improve the service. However, we found there were shortfalls with the environment, light pull cords required cleaning to maintain infection control and there were minor issues with medicines. Auditing systems in place needed to be improved in some areas to ensure the issues we found during our inspection and any other shortfalls were addressed. These issues were rectified after our inspection.

Staff asked for people’s views and they acted upon what they said. This helped to ensure people remained satisfied with the service they received.