Archived: Park Lodge

Park Lodge is a residential care home for up to 15 older people. There were nine people in the home during the inspection. People had single bedrooms, some with ensuite facilities. There were suitable shared facilities and a pleasant garden. The home does not provide nursing care.

People’s experience of using this service

People told us they felt safe. Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from harm and abuse. New members of staff had been suitably vetted. Accidents and incidents were responded to appropriately.

Staff understood people's needs and had suitable training and experience in their roles. The service employed enough staff by day and night to meet people's needs.

People saw their GP and health specialists when necessary. Medicines were suitably managed with people having reviews of their medicines on a regular basis. Staff took the advice of nurses and consultants. The staff team had good working relationships with local GP surgeries. Nutritional planning and special diets were in place. People told us they really enjoyed the food provided.

Park Lodge is a purpose-built home that has been modernised and adapted to meet the needs of older adults. The house was warm, clean and comfortable on the day we visited. The home had equipment in place to support care delivery.

The staff team were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People told us the staff were very caring. We observed kind and patient support being provided. Staff supported people in a respectful way and made sure confidentiality, privacy and dignity were maintained.

Care plans provided detailed guidance for staff in the home. People in the service or their relatives, as appropriate, had influenced the content. The registered manager ensured the plans reflected the person-centred care that was being delivered.

Staff could access specialists if people needed communication tools like sign language or braille.

People told us they enjoyed the activities, interests and hobbies on offer. The home was part of the local community with involvement in local activities.

The service had a quality monitoring system and people were asked their views in a number of different ways. Quality assurance was used to support future planning.

The registered manager understood how to manage concerns or complaints appropriately. There had been no complaints in this service.

Records were well organised, easy to access and stored securely.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: Good (Published 4 May 2017).

Why we inspected:

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

Park Lodge is a residential home for up to fifteen people. On the day of our visit there were eleven people in the home. The home cares for older adults, some of whom may be living with dementia or with a learning disability. The home is one of the services operated by Cumbria Care, the in-house provider for Cumbria County Council.

The home is situated in a residential area of Aspatria and is within walking distance of public transport and all the amenities of this small town. Accommodation is in single rooms but one room can be used as a double room. Two rooms have ensuite facilities. The home has suitable toilets and bathrooms. There were a number of lounge and dining areas around the home where people could spend time together.

The home had a suitably qualified and experienced 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff had received suitable training and could talk to us about how they would identify any actual or potential abuse and how they would report this appropriately. Risk assessments and risk management plans were in place and supported people well. Cumbria County Council had ensured that new members of staff had been suitably vetted and that they were the right kind of people to work with vulnerable adults. There had been very few accidents or incidents in the home but any issues had been appropriately reported to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and suitable action taken to lessen the risk of further issues.

We judged the home to be suitably staffed by day and night and the registered manager told us that the staffing levels were kept under constant review. Staff were suitably inducted, trained and developed to give people the best support possible.

Medicines were appropriately managed in the service with people having reviews of their medicines on a regular basis. People in the home saw their GP and health specialists whenever necessary.

The County Council and the registered manager were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 if they judged that people were deprived of their liberty for their own safety. Most people in the home were able to leave the building when they wished and had flexible lifestyle choices. People told us that their consent was sought for any interaction, where possible.

People in the home told us the food was of a very high quality and that they had plenty of choice. Suitable planning was in place where people had problems maintaining a healthy weight.

Park lodge was a purpose built home and the registered manager had ensured that the home was well maintained and updated.

The house was clean, fresh and orderly on the day of our inspection. Good infection control measures were in place.

We observed kind, patient and suitable care being provided. Staff knew people and their families very well. They made sure that confidentiality, privacy and dignity were maintained. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible. Staff were able to deliver good end of life care.

Risk assessments and care plans provided detailed and relevant guidance for staff in the home. People in the service were aware of their care plans and were able to influence the content. The management team had ensured the plans reflected the person centred care that was being delivered.

The home had regular entertainers, activities and parties. Staff took people out locally. People were encouraged to follow their own hobbies and pastimes.

Cumbria County Council had a suitable complaints policy. We had evidence to show that policies and procedures were suitably followed with good complaints investigations being carried out by senior officers of the organisation. No one had any complaints at Park lodge when we visited.

Cumbria Care had a quality monitoring system which was in place in the home. We saw that all aspects of care and services were regularly monitored and that the registered manager brought any issues to the attention of the operations manager. Improvements had been made to the service when quality monitoring had shown any issues.

The provider had suitable policies and procedures in place and the home had good records management in place.

Give a summary of your findings for the service, highlighting what the service does well and drawing attention to areas where improvements could be made. Where a breach of regulation has been identified, summarise, in plain English, how the provider was not meeting the requirements of the law and state ‘You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.’ Please note that the summary section will be used to populate the CQC website. Providers will be asked to share this section with the people who use their service and the staff that work at there.