Archived: Ashmead Care Centre

Ashmead Care Centre is a care home with nursing for older people with dementia and/or nursing needs. There were 105 people using the service when we visited.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

At our previous inspection we found the provider was not meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We found one person was being unlawfully deprived of their liberty. At this inspection we found the provider was meeting this regulation. People’s liberty was only being deprived in accordance with legal requirements for their safety and was the least restrictive option to achieve this aim. Where people’s capacity was in question, we found mental capacity assessments were completed and decisions were made in their best interests after consultation with all relevant parties.

People were not consistently supported to meet their nutrition and hydration needs. Food and fluid charts were used, but these were not consistently filled in. People were otherwise supported to maintain a balanced, nutritious diet. Repositioning charts were not consistently filled in when needed. People were supported effectively with their health needs and were supported to access a range of healthcare professionals.

Procedures were in place to protect people from abuse. Staff understood how to recognise abuse and knew what to do if they suspected abuse was taking place.

Staff had completed medicines administration training within the last two years and were clear about their responsibilities. Medicines were administered, recorded and stored safely.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of people’s life histories and current circumstances, and supported people to meet their individual needs in a caring way. We saw good levels of supportive interactions between care staff and people using the service.

People using the service and their relatives were involved in decisions about their care and how their needs were met. People had care plans in place that reflected their assessed needs.

Recruitment procedures ensured that only staff who were suitable, worked within the service. There was an induction programme for new staff, which prepared them for their role. Staff were provided with appropriate training to help them carry out their duties. Staff received regular supervision. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs.

People using the service and staff felt able to speak with the registered manager and provided feedback on the service. They knew how to make complaints and there was a complaints policy and procedure in place.

The organisation had adequate systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

During this inspection we found a breach of regulations in relation to nutrition. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements in relation to the breaches found. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Ashmead Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Ashmead Care Centre is a care home with nursing for older people with dementia and/or nursing needs. There were 110 people using the service when we visited.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

At our previous inspection we found the provider was not meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We saw examples of documentation being signed by next of kin without them having the legal authority to do so and some people’s liberty was being unlawfully deprived. At our recent inspection we found most people either had applications in place authorising the service to deprive them of their liberty, or pending with the local authority. Where people did not have capacity to consent to their care we found documentation authorising someone to do so on their behalf in accordance with legislation. However, we found one example of someone being unlawfully deprived of their liberty without the service having the required authorisation in place.

At our previous inspection we found procedures were in place to protect people from abuse. However, staff understanding of how to recognise abuse varied and some staff were not aware of the provider’s whistleblowing procedure. At our recent inspection we spoke with six care workers and two nurses and tested their understanding of safeguarding and whistle blowing procedures. Staff were aware of how to recognise abuse and knew the provider’s whistle blowing procedure and when it should be used.

At our previous inspection we found medicines were administered, recorded and stored safely. However, we saw some creams did not include the date of opening or expiry date and some creams were in other people’s rooms which increased the risk of cross contamination. At our recent inspection we found creams were for individual use and were stored correctly in people’s rooms. We saw creams were marked with the date of opening and the date at which they were required to be disposed of.

At our previous inspection we found staff demonstrated an understanding of people’s life histories and current circumstances and most staff supported people to meet their individual needs in a caring way. However, we saw varying levels of interaction between care workers and people using the service. At our recent inspection we found a good level of interaction between care workers and people using the service. Care workers took time to speak to people and to respond appropriately to their needs.

At our previous inspection we found people had care plans in place that reflected their assessed needs, but not all care records were updated as people’s health needs had changed. At our recent inspection we found care records were updated in accordance with people’s changing health needs and provided an up to date account of their requirements.

At our previous inspection we found auditing systems did not identify the problems we found. At our recent inspection we found auditing systems to be thorough and identified issues where required. We saw evidence of appropriate actions taken to rectify issues.

During this inspection we found a breach of regulations in relation to consent. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Ashmead Care Centre is a care home with nursing for older people with dementia and/or nursing needs. There were 95 people using the service when we visited.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

The provider was not meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We saw examples of documentation being signed by next of kin without them having the legal authority to do so and some people’s liberty was being unlawfully deprived. Most staff were unable to demonstrate an understanding of the issues surrounding consent. We also found that restrictions were in place for some people without the necessary authorisation.

Procedures were in place to protect people from abuse. However, staff understanding of how to recognise abuse varied and some staff were not aware of the provider’s whistleblowing procedure.

Staff had completed medicines administration training within the last two years and were clear about their responsibilities. Medicines were administered, recorded and stored safely. However, we saw some creams did not include the date of opening or expiry date and some creams were in other people’s rooms which increased the risk of cross contamination.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of people’s life histories and current circumstances and most staff supported people to meet their individual needs in a caring way. However, we saw varying levels of interaction between care workers and people using the service.

People using the service and their relatives were involved in decisions about their care and how their needs were met. People had care plans in place that reflected their assessed needs. However, we saw that not all care records were updated as people’s health needs had changed.

Recruitment procedures ensured that only staff who were suitable, worked within the service. There was an induction programme for new staff, which prepared them for their role. Staff were provided with appropriate training to help them carry out their duties. Staff received regular supervision. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs.

People were supported to maintain a balanced, nutritious diet. People were supported effectively with their health needs and were supported to access a range of healthcare professionals.

People using the service and staff felt able to speak with the registered manager and provided feedback on the service. They knew how to make complaints and there was a complaints policy and procedure in place.

The organisation had adequate systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. However, auditing systems did not identify the problems we found.

During this inspection we found a breach of regulations in relation to consent, nutrition and dignity and respect. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.