Cherry Tree House Residential Home

Cherry Tree House Residential Home (Cherry Tree House) is a care home for people who are frail or who have a health condition which requires them to need accommodation and support with personal care. The service has accommodation for up to 20 people, set over 2 floors. It has a communal dining room and two lounge areas as well as a good-sized level garden. At the time of our inspection 16 people were living at Cherry Tree House.

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

We found there was a positive culture within the service. Without exception, everyone said they were happy living at Cherry Tree House. Staff showed kind and compassionate care towards people and there were sufficient staff so people did not have to wait to receive their care.

People were kept safe by staff as they understood the risks people faced and how to mitigate these. Staff put their training into practice to help ensure people were kept free from harm. Where staff suspected abuse may have occurred they knew how to report this.

People lived in an environment that was checked for its safety. It was clean, hygienic and well maintained.

People received the medicines they required and staff followed good medicines practices. Medicines were reviewed when needed by health care professionals and documentation updated as necessary.

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.

The service was well managed and people told us they felt comfortable approaching staff members and the registered manager if they needed assistance.

People felt involved in the running of the service through meetings and surveys. They told us their family members could visit at any time and that they could offer suggestions or ideas. Equally, staff felt supported and told us they felt comfortable speaking up in staff meetings. They said they received the training they required and had the opportunity to speak with their line manager regularly.

The registered manager had good governance arrangements in place and she worked with external agencies to help ensure the standard of care people received was good.

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 (report published 15 September 2017).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding.

This was a focused inspection which looked at the key questions of Safe and Well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained Good based on our findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Cherry Tree House Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Cherry Tree House Residential Home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 20 older people. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people living at the service.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 and their families told us they felt safe at Cherry Tree House Residential Home and had no concerns about their safety at the home. One person said “Oh yes, I do feel very safe”.

Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding people. Staff received regular training to make sure they stayed up to date with recognising and reporting safety concerns. The service had systems in place to notify the authorities where concerns were identified. People received their medicine as prescribed.

People benefitted from caring relationships with the staff. One person said “Staff are so nice. They could not be better” and a relative said “The care is very, very good”. People and their relatives were involved in their care and people’s independence was actively promoted. Relatives and staff told us people’s dignity was promoted.

Where risks to people had been identified, risk assessments were in place and action had been taken to manage these risks. Staff sought people’s consent and involved them in their care where possible.

People, relatives and staff told us overall there were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. This was confirmed on the day of our inspection as we observed staff numbers were adequate to meet people’s needs. The service had safe recruitment procedures and conducted background checks to ensure staff were suitable to undertake their care role. Staff told us they were given scenarios when being interviewed to test their knowledge and care ethic.

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. The service was operating within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005(MCA).

People and their families told us people had enough to eat and drink. People were given a choice of meals and their preferences were respected. Where people had specific nutritional needs, staff, including the chef, were aware of these and ensured they were met.

Relatives and people told us they were confident they would be listened to and action would be taken if they raised a concern. The service had systems to assess the quality of the service provided. Improvements and learning needs were identified and action was taken to make improvements which promoted people’s safety and quality of life. Systems were in place that ensured people were protected against the risks of unsafe or inappropriate care.

Staff spoke positively about the support they received from the registered manager and all of the team at the home. Staff supervisions and other meetings were scheduled as were annual appraisals. People, their relatives and staff told us all of the management team were approachable and there was a good level of communication within the service.

Relatives and people told us the team at Cherry Trees House Residential Home was very friendly, responsive and very well-managed. Comments received included, “We came to the home as a family, we had lunch and mum liked it so much she stayed” and “The management is very good, good leadership, definitely”. The service sought people’s views and opinions and acted on them.

The management teams’ ethos was echoed by staff and embedded within the culture of the service.