We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was conducted over two days by one inspector on the 10 and 11 July 2019.

Service and service type

Acacia Lodge is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced on the first day of the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We reviewed information we had received from the service since our last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We received positive responses from them. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, the wellbeing/activities coordinator, five people who used the service, an area manager, a team leader, a receptionist, a district nurse, the chef, two relatives and three care staff. We observed a lunch and staff interaction with people who used the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four plans of care and multiple medicines records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, meetings, quality assurance audits and satisfaction questionnaires.