Archived: Greycroft Residential Home

Greycroft Residential Home is a care home providing personal care and support to 14 people aged 65 and over, some of who were living with dementia. The service does not provide nursing care. At the time of the inspection, there were 12 people living in the home.

Greycroft Residential Home is an older type extended property providing facilities on two floors which could be accessed by a stair lift. There were two lounges and a conservatory dining room leading onto a decking area with ample seating for people and their visitors to enjoy in the warmer months. There were twelve single bedrooms and one double bedroom.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were happy about the care and support they received and with the way the home was managed. People’s views about the quality of care provided were used to make improvements to the service. The quality of the service was monitored, and appropriate action was taken to improve the service when needed. Lessons had been learned and shared with staff when things went wrong.

People felt safe and made positive comments about the management team and staff. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and people had no concerns about the care they received. People received their medicines when they needed them from staff who had been trained and had their competency checked.

Recruitment processes were safe and ensured new staff were suitable to work in the home. There were enough staff to meet people's needs and ensure their safety. Staff received ongoing training, supervision and support. They felt valued and supported and enjoyed working at the home.

Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and receive care with minimum risk to themselves or others. 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's care needs were assessed prior to them living in the home. Staff knew about people's routines and preferences and people had been consulted about their care needs. People enjoyed the meals. They were supported to eat a nutritionally balanced diet and had access to various healthcare professionals, when needed. People enjoyed suitable activities and entertainments and they were supported to maintain contact with their friends and family; good friendships had developed within the service.

Staff treated people with dignity, respect and kindness and knew people well. We observed positive, caring and warm interactions between staff and people. Staff spoke with people in a friendly and patient manner and we overheard laughter and friendly banter.

People could raise any complaints or concerns if they needed to and knew who to speak with. People were happy with their bedrooms and with the communal areas. All areas were comfortable, clean and bright.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 26 May 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

Greycroft Residential Home provides accommodation and care and support for up to 14 people, some of whom were living with dementia. The service does not provide nursing care. There were 13 people accommodated in the home at the time of the inspection. The service was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2015. This was the first ratings inspection since that date.

Greycroft Residential Home is an older type extended property providing facilities on two floors which could be accessed by a stair lift. There were two lounges and a conservatory dining room leading onto a decking area with ample seating for people and their visitors to enjoy in the warmer months. There were twelve single bedrooms and one double bedroom.

The service was managed by a 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.

People told us they felt safe and staff were caring. Safeguarding adults' procedures were in place and staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse. The registered manager and staff were observed to have positive relationships with people living in the home. People were relaxed in the company of staff and there were no restrictions placed on visiting times for friends and relatives.

We found staff were respectful to people, attentive to their needs and treated people with kindness and respect in their day to day care. The atmosphere in the home was happy and relaxed. From our observations it was clear staff knew people well and were knowledgeable about their individual needs, preferences and personalities.

Appropriate Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DOLS) applications had been made to the local authority and people's mental capacity to make their own decisions had been assessed and recorded in line the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have 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.

Each person had a care plan that was sufficiently detailed to ensure they were at the centre of their care. People’s care and support was kept under review and, where appropriate, they were involved in decisions about their care. Risks to people’s health and safety had been identified, assessed and managed safely. Relevant health and social care professionals provided advice and support when people’s needs changed.

People considered there were enough staff to support them when they needed any help and they received support in a timely and unhurried way. The registered manager followed a robust recruitment procedure to ensure new staff were suitable to care for vulnerable people and arrangements were in place to make sure staff were trained and supervised.

Medicines were managed safely and people had their medicines when they needed them. Staff administering medicines had been trained and supervised to do this safely.

Appropriate aids and adaptations had been provided to help maintain people’s safety, independence and comfort. Some people had arranged their bedrooms as they wished and had brought personal possessions with them to maintain the homeliness.

Activities were appropriate to individual needs. People told us they enjoyed the meals and had been involved in developing the menu. They were provided with a nutritionally balanced diet that catered for their dietary needs and preferences.

People were encouraged to be involved in the running of the home and were kept up to date with any changes. People were aware of how to raise their concerns and were confident they would be listened to. Action had been taken to respond to people’s concerns and suggestions. This showed that people were able to influence developments at the service.

People considered the service was managed well. There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service to ensure people received a good service that supported their health, welfare and well-being.

.