Background to this inspection
Updated
28 September 2018
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 provider is 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.
We carried out a comprehensive inspection on 18 April 2018 and it was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location is a small care home for younger adults who are often out during the day. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
The inspection team included one inspector. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
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.
As a part of the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service. We also spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and one member of staff. The records we looked at related to the delivery of care to people and the administration and management of Dover Lodge. We looked at two care plans, two recruitment files, staff duty rosters, quality audits and medicine administration records for two people using the service.
After the inspection, we spoke with one relative. We asked health and social care professionals for their views of the service after the visit. We did not receive any feedback from them.
Updated
28 September 2018
Dover Lodge is residential care home for up to seven people living with a learning disability. The service is situated in a purpose built large house with bedrooms on all floors. On the second floor there is a flat where a person lives independently within the service. At the time of the inspection there were six people living at the service, some with a mental health condition, autism and learning disabilities. Dover 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.
This inspection took place on 18 April 2018. The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.
At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.
Dover Lodge has a registered manager. 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.
The registered provider had established safeguarding procedures. Staff knew what abuse was and how to protect people from harm and abuse. The provider had clear procedures for reporting allegations of abuse.
Staff identified risks to people’s health and wellbeing. Risk management plans recorded actions staff would take to mitigate and reduce risks for people.
Staff continued to manage people’s medicines in a safe way. The registered manager had systems in place that recorded the administration, ordering and storage of people’s medicines.
There was an infection control process at the service. This gave staff guidance on how to reduce the risk of infection to people. Staff used personal protective equipment and knew how to use effective hand washing techniques.
The registered manager and staff reported essential repairs appropriately to the local authority who was responsible for the maintenance of the building to ensure it was safe for people. We noted that there were maintenance works required to the stairs and ceiling within the service. After our visit we received an update from the registered manager that the maintenance works and repairs were being completed.
Staff were available in sufficient numbers to care for people effectively. When people required additional care from staff this was made available. The registered manager continued to support staff through training, appraisals and supervision.
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. People continued to give staff their consent to the care and support they received. Staff understood how to care for people in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards framework to avoid unlawful deprivation of liberty.
People’s meal choices and nutritional needs were met. People had food and drink provided by staff during the day and people contributed to the meal plan for the week.
People had access to services that met their health and wellbeing needs. Staff made referrals to health and social care services when people’s needs changed.
People and their relatives said staff treated them with compassion, kindness and were respectful to them. Staff protected people’s dignity and privacy whilst they delivered care.
People’s assessments continued to be person centred. Care plans used the information from assessments to detail the support people required to meet their individual needs. People, relatives, health professionals and staff discussed individual end of life care. Care records contained people’s views about how they wanted to be cared for at the end of their life. This information was made available to staff so they knew what action to take at this time.
People and their relatives had access to a complaints system so they could complain about the care they received if they needed to.
The registered manager continued to provide support to the service. Staff we spoke with enjoyed working at the service and were proud to work at Dover Lodge and with the people that lived there.
The registered manager continued to inform the Care Quality Commission of incidents that occurred at the service with concerns reported promptly.