Lavender Fields

Lavender Fields is a care home providing personal care for up to 75 older people and people living with dementia in one purpose-built building. There were 54 people living in the service at the time of inspection. The accommodation is arranged over three floors with 25 rooms on each floor. People had their own rooms with ensuite bathrooms.

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

People told us, and their relatives agreed, that they felt safe living in the service. One relative said, “Yes, she is very safe, I am very grateful”. Risk assessments and care plans were thorough and up to date and provided staff with enough detail to support people safely. People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and received safe care and treatment. There were enough staff to meet peoples’ needs. The home was clean and uncluttered. Medicines were managed in line with national guidance. Lessons were learned when things went wrong.

Peoples’ care and support was personalised to meet their individual needs and people told us they had been involved in planning their care. Staff were knowledgeable about the people they were supporting. Staff had received training to equip them for the role. One staff member told us, “I feel I have had enough training, if I needed more, I know I could have more”.

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. People told us they were treated with dignity and respect and we saw that peoples’ privacy was maintained.

People told us that the quality and variety of food was inconsistent. This has been fed back to the registered manager in residents and relative’s meetings at the start of the year, but there had been no sustainable improvement. The provider had plans in place to improve this.

The range of activities had been limited during COVID-19 and relatives told us this has impacted on peoples’ wellbeing. The registered manager was aware of this and had an action plan in place to address these concerns.

Quality assurance processes were in place to monitor the service. Staff and relatives told us that the manager was approachable, and staff were confident that action would be taken if they raised concerns.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 September 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found enough improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Lavender Fields Residential Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 62 older people at the time of the inspection. Lavender Fields accommodates up to 75 people a purpose built building.

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

People told us they felt safe living at the service, however, potential risks to people's health and welfare had not been consistently assessed. Staff did not have guidance to mitigate risks and keep people safe with consistent care.

Accidents and incidents had not been consistently recorded and analysed to identify patterns and trends to reduce the risk of them happening again.

Care plans were not always completed to reflect the care being given to people. However, staff knew people well and people told us staff supported them in the way they preferred. Some audits had been completed but they did not cover all aspects of the service. The audits completed had not identified the shortfalls found at this inspection.

People's end of life wishes were not always discussed or recorded, this meant that people may not have been receiving the care they wanted at the end of their life. However, staff worked with the GP and district nurses to support people at the end of their life.

Medicines were administered, stored and managed safely. Audits identified no errors in the months before the inspection.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty. Staff had been recruited safely with all the appropriate checks in place.

People had choice over their care and support and their choice, dignity and privacy was respected by staff. People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them well.

People met with the registered manager before they moved into service to check staff could meet their needs. People were supported to eat a balanced diet, people had a choice of meals, people's dietary needs were catered for. However, people told us that the food within the service was not always as good as it could be and improvements could be made.

Staff supported people to be as independent as possible and express their views about the service and their care. People's health was monitored, and they were referred to health professionals when required.

The service was clean, tidy and homely and suited to the needs of people living there. People had individualised rooms with their personal items and favourite colours and chose their decoration.

There was an open and transparent culture within the service, people and staff were asked for their views and opinions about the service and these were acted on. There had been no formal complaints in the last year, but people told us they knew how to complain.

Rating at last inspection:

This service was registered with us on 16th July 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected:

Scheduled inspection based on timescale for unrated services.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to consent to care, safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.