The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Hall Green

Hall Green, Hall Green Road, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B71 3JS

Provided and run by:
Anchor Carehomes Limited

All Inspections

14 January 2013

During an inspection looking at part of the service

During our inspection of this home in August 2012 we found non-compliance with medicine management, staffing and assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. We carried out this inspection to find out if improvements had been made and found that further improvements were needed.

This inspection was unannounced so no one knew we would be inspecting that day. Medicine management was assessed by our pharmacist inspector.

We spoke with people living at the home, staff and visitors. People living at the home were positive about their experiences. One person told us, 'I like it here'. Another person said, 'The staff are very kind'.

Our pharmacist inspector found that some aspects of medicine management had improved but further improvements were required to make sure that medication was being properly managed to promote safety.

Visitors and staff told us that staffing levels had improved.

A new manager had been appointed since our previous inspection. We found that although checking processes had improved which gave greater assurance that the service provided was being scrutinised, further improvements were needed to prevent risk to people living there.

29 August 2012

During an inspection in response to concerns

There were 40 people living there on the day of our inspection. No one knew we would be visiting. We spoke with ten people, two relatives and nine staff.

People we spoke with told us positive things about the home. One person told us "It is a lovely place". Another person said 'They are very good to us here'. Relatives complimented the home and care provided. One relative said 'It is a very good home. I am very pleased with the care provided'. Another relative told us 'I am very surprised how nice it is, they seem happy'.

We saw that staff had treated people with respect and dignity. People told us that choices had been offered and their views had been considered.

People's needs had been assessed by a range of health professionals including specialist doctors and the optician. This meant that staff had taken action so that people's health and care needs had been met.

We found that medication systems needed improvement as some medication had not been given as it had been prescribed which meant that people's health was being placed at risk.

We carried out this inspection as we had been told that staffing levels were not adequate. We started this inspection at 06.40 hours so that we could speak with night staff as well as day staff. We found that staffing levels did not give assurance that people's full needs had been met.

We identified and the area manager confirmed that improvements regarding the quality monitoring of the service provided were needed.

16 January 2012

During an inspection looking at part of the service

In the autumn of 2011 the 'host authority' Sandwell suspended placements at Hall Green because there were concerns about the care being provided. This suspension was lifted just before our January 2012 visit with applied restrictions. The restriction that applied at the time of our visit was that Hall Green could only admit one new person a week.

We carried out a review of this location in October 2011. We found that there was non compliance with a number of outcome areas. Following our review, because we identified so many concerns, we had a meeting with the registered provider. The registered provider gave us assurance that improvements would be made. The management provided us with an action plan confirming how they would make improvements. We carried out our January 2012 review to check that improvements had been made and found that they had.

We revisited the location as part of our January 2012 review, and looked at information we had received about this provider since our last inspection visit of October 2011.

We spent most of our visit time in the lounge areas where we could observe staff interacting with people and daily routines. We saw that people looked so much happier than they did during our previous visit. We saw that people were interacting with staff and each other. People looked much better cared for and were clearly more content.

We spoke with a range of people during our inspection visit. These included; visitors, managers, staff and people who live at the home. Staff told us that there had been improvements in the staffing levels since our last visit. Visitor's and people who live at the location told us they were happy with the care and support provided by the staff.

We spoke with six people who live at the location. Below are a few comments people made;

'Oh yes I like it here. I do like to do things for myself and they let me. I make my own drinks.'

'The staff are very nice. They are kind'.

'The food is very nice'.

We spoke with relatives who were complimentary about the location and care provided. Below are a few things they shared with us;

'My relative was in a different home before. The difference is fantastic. It is totally different here. They are much cleaner and smarter than they were in the previous place'.

'I am very pleased. I am happy with the care that they receive'.

During our January 2012 inspection visit we checked the systems for planning care, documentation and paperwork produced by the provider. We identified that further improvement could be made in record keeping for instance, care planning in behaviour management. This would decrease the risk of people not getting the care they need when they need it.

24 October 2011

During a routine inspection

Due to people's individual abilities and conditions we could not hold conversations with a lot of the people. To gain an insight into the care experienced by people we spent the day in communal areas observing. We observed routines and interactions and engagement between staff and people.

We spoke with one person. Below are a few comments they made;

'It's not too bad'.

'Do get bored. Not much to do'.

'The staff are ok'.

'The food is alright'.

The location was registered in the summer of 2011. The first people were admitted in August 2011. We found a number of areas which did not meet government standards such as medication management, care planning, record keeping and staffing levels. Evidence gained throughout our inspection confirms that the lack of regular management observations, audits, checks and staffing levels are contributory factors to the shortfalls that we identified.