• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Strathmore House

Friday Bridge Road, Elm, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 0AU (01945) 860569

Provided and run by:
Larchwood Care Homes (South) Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

2 July 2013

During a routine inspection

People's rights to give consent to their support and care were respected. Where a person was not able to give this consent, there were legal systems in place to ensure that the person received support, care and medical treatment that they needed.

All of the people that were spoken with were very satisfied with the standard and quality of their support, care and treatment. People's health and safety risks were assessed and effective measures were taken to minimise these risks. People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing with the support to access to health care professionals and to engage in social activities of their choosing.

Equipment was provided and maintained to ensure that people's support, care and treatment needs were safely and appropriately met.

Members of staff told us that they enjoyed their work, which they found rewarding. Work was in progress to improve the frequency for members of staff to attend training.

Quality assurance systems were in place to listen to what people had to say about the standard and quality of the service provided. Other quality systems were in place to ensure that Strathmore House was a safe and comfortable place for people to live, work and visit.

2 January 2013

During an inspection looking at part of the service

People told us that their privacy and dignity were respected. We found that staff treated people who used the service in a respectful way. People's independence with their personal care, including eating, was maintained and promoted.

People who used the service said that they had the right amount of information about their support, care and treatment. This included information about their discharge arrangements from Strathmore House. Other information was provided in the way people who used the service could understand.

Improvements had been made in the way people were supported when assisted with their moving and handling by means of a wheelchair. Improvements also had been made regarding how people were supported with their food and drink.

To promote people's wellbeing some progress was made regarding the personal choice and availability of meaningful activities.

People, who were able to verbally tell us, said that there was always enough staff on duty. One person said, 'I never have to wait for someone to come; day or night.' During our visit there was a sufficient number of staff on duty to meet people's individual needs.

Work was in progress for staff to attend refresher training in supporting people living with dementia and carrying out safe moving and handling techniques. A visiting healthcare professional told us they had no concerns about the ability of staff to provide people who used the service with safe and appropriate support and care.

8 August 2012

During a themed inspection looking at Dignity and Nutrition

People told us what it was like to live at this home and described how they were treated by staff and their involvement in making choices about their care. They also told us about the quality and choice of food and drink available. This was because this inspection was part of a themed inspection programme to assess whether older people living in care homes are treated with dignity and respect and whether their nutritional needs are met.

The inspection team was led by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector joined by an Expert by Experience who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service, and a practising professional.

During our inspection of Strathmore House on 08 August 2012 we used a number of different methods to help us understand the experience of people living in the home. This was because some people were living with dementia, which meant that they were not able to tell us their experiences. For part of the inspection we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with a family member who told us, 'I can't speak highly enough about everyone. Staff have been wonderful with [my relative], absolutely marvellous.' Another family member told us that, 'The dementia and personal care is getting better'. A visiting professional said that the staff were, 'Very caring' and that they contacted health professionals for advice appropriately. One person told us that they were, 'Bored' and, 'Lonely'.

We observed staff providing care to people. In most instances staff provided care in an appropriate way but we did observe an example of poor moving and handling practice. We also observed some examples of staff not recognising the support that people needed which meant that their dignity was compromised. There were very few examples of people having access to meaningful activities, particularly those people living with dementia.

People told us they enjoyed their meals. One person said, 'The food's lovely ' no complaints at all.' People's nutritional needs were met. Staff, including the kitchen staff, had a good understanding of people's individual needs and how these should be met. They also understood how to recognise signs that someone was at risk from poor nutrition or hydration. Staff were less skilled at providing care to people who were living with dementia. Our observations concluded that there were not enough staff with the right skills to meet people's needs.