6 March 2017
During a routine inspection
Allandale is a detached two storey house set in its own grounds in the area of Heswall, Wirral. The home is within walking distance of local shops and public transport. A small car park and large garden with seating are available within the grounds. Accommodation is provided on the ground and first floor. A stair lift enables access to the bedrooms located on the first floor. All bedrooms have en-suite bathroom facilities. Specialised bathing facilities are also available and on the ground floor, there is a communal lounge and dining room for people to use. The home’s communal areas have recently been refurbished to a high standard.
At the time of inspection there was a registered manager in post. They had been in post approximately seven months on the day of our visit. 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 manager reported directly to the general manager. The general manager supervised the registered manager in the day to day management of the home. The general manager had also been in post for approximately seven months prior to our visit.
We spoke with two people who lived at the home and one relative during our visit. Everyone we spoke with spoke positively about the home. It was clear they held the staff team and the care provided, in high regard. People told us the staff were kind, caring and compassionate. They said their needs were responded to promptly and that whenever they asked for help, staff were always on hand to provide it. The relative we spoke with confirmed this. They told us about the care the staff team had provided to their loved one when they became unwell, describing it as “Absolutely brilliant”.
People and the relative we spoke with told us there were enough staff on duty to meet their needs. They told us they felt safe at the home and they had no worries or concerns. They told us they got enough to eat and drink, the food was good and they had plenty of choice. We saw that people’s weight was monitored regularly to ensure they maintained a healthy weight.
People’s care records were person centred and contained information about their needs and preferences but some lacked sufficient information about how to manage people’s individual risks. People’s care plans contained information about what people could do independently and provided guidance to staff on how to support this.
Some people had short term memory loss that impacted on their ability to make decisions. We saw the beginnings of good practice in relation to the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) but found that the way people’s capacity was assessed required review to ensure it complied in full with the MCA. We spoke with the registered manager and general manager about this and they assured us they would review how they assessed people’s capacity without delay.
Activities were provided to occupy and interest people but the manager and people who lived at the home told us they were poorly attended. The manager told people preferred to spend their time in their own rooms and people we spoke with confirmed this. The manager told us that they respected people’s right to do this. A relative we spoke with told us that a recent karaoke day had however been a success. They said that the registered manager and staff tried their best to provide activities to occupy and interest the people who lived in the home.
During our visit, we saw that staff took the time to just sit and chat to people in addition to meeting their support needs. This promoted their well-being. Interactions between people and staff were positive and the home had a warm, homely atmosphere. We observed that staff treated people kindly, with respect and supported them at their own pace.
Staff were recruited safely but some of the contractual paperwork relating to the employment of staff with Allandale Care Group needed to be put into place. Staff records showed that staff had adequate training and supervision in their job role and the registered manager had plans in place to commence staff appraisals in April 2017. Staff we spoke with felt supported and sufficiently trained to provide safe and appropriate care.
The home was well maintained but some improvements in the home’s fire safety arrangements were required and the general manager told us these were in progress. There was a lack of adequate systems to detect, monitor and manage the risk of Legionella in the home’s water systems. Following our inspection, the general manager contacted us to inform us that an external contractor had been sought to risk assess and provide guidance on the systems needed.
Safeguarding and accident and incidents were properly recorded, investigated and responded to in order to protect people from risk. There were a range of quality assurance systems in place to assess the quality and safety of the service received and to obtain people’s views. A satisfaction questionnaire had recently been sent out to gain people’s feedback on the service and people’s feedback was positive.
The culture of the home was open and transparent. It was clear that people felt content with the support they received. Everyone we spoke with told us the home was well led and during our visit, we found this to be the case.