Archived: Glyn Thomas House

Updated 19 April 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 27 March 2017 and was unannounced. The inspection was completed by one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is someone who has experience of using a similar service.

The local authority safeguarding and quality teams and the local NHS were contacted as part of the inspection, to ask them for their views on the service. We also looked at the information we hold about the registered provider.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection [SOFI]. SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with six people who used the service and two of their relatives who were visiting during the inspection. We observed how staff interacted with people who used the service and monitored how staff supported people throughout the day, including meal times.

We spoke with five staff including care staff and ancillary staff; we also spoke with the registered manager.

We looked at four care files which belonged to people who used the service. We also looked at other important documentation relating to people who used the service such as incident and accident records and 10 medicines administration records (MARs). We looked at how the service used the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty code of practice to ensure that when people were deprived of their liberty or assessed as lacking capacity to make their own decisions, actions were taken in line with the legislation.

We looked at a selection of documentation relating to the management and running of the service. These included three staff recruitment files, training records, staff rotas, supervision records for staff, minutes of meetings with staff and people who used the service, safeguarding records, quality assurance audits, maintenance of equipment records, cleaning schedules and menus. We also undertook a tour of the building.

Updated 19 April 2017

Glyn Thomas House is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide care and accommodation for a maximum of 34 older people some of whom may be living with dementia. The majority of the rooms are single and a number have en-suite facilities. There is a choice of communal areas for people to use and there is easy access to the garden.

At the time of the inspection 10 people were living at the service.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the last inspection in August 2016 we found the care plans did not reflect people’s needs fully and the service was not audited effectively to make sure it was run safely. The registered provider was found to be in breach of Regulation 9 (Person centred care) and Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Following our last inspection the registered provider sent us information, in the form of an action plan, which detailed the action they would take to make improvements at the service.

At this inspection we found the team had worked collaboratively to ensure all of the previous breaches of regulation were addressed.

People were cared of by staff who understood the importance of making sure they were safe and protected from harm. The staff had received training in how to identify abuse and how to report this to the proper authorities. Staff, who had been recruited safely, were provided in enough number to meet the needs of the people who used the service. The service was clean and free from odours.

Staff received mandatory training in a number of areas, which assisted them to support people effectively, and were supported with regular supervisions and appraisals. People’s rights under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were protected.

People were supported to maintain a healthy diet and to access external professionals to monitor and promote their health. People were provided with a varied and wholesome diet; staff monitored this and called health care professionals if there were any problems. People were supported to access their GP.

The registered provider had an accessible complaints procedure and this was displayed around the service. Complaints were investigated wherever possible to the complainant’s satisfaction and people were signposted to other agencies if needed. People had a range of activities they could choose from and staff supported people to access the local community.

Systems were in place which ensured the service was run safely. People’s views were sought and those who had an interest in people’s welfare were also consulted about the service.