The Elms

Updated 16 January 2025

Date of assessment: 22 January 2025 to 24 January 2025. We carried out this assessment because we had received concerns about people’s care, staffing numbers and the management of the service.

The Elms provides care to a maximum of 29 older people of whom some live with dementia. At the time of the assessment 27 people were receiving care.

There were processes and practices in place to keep people safe and to manage risks which could impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Learning was taken from accidents and incidents to help improve people’s safety. Staffing rosters had been recently reviewed to ensure there were sufficient experienced and knowledgeable staff to support people’s needs. Staff were safely recruited so people were protected from those who may not be suitable to work with vulnerable people.

Staff worked with health and social care professionals to enable people’s access to the care and treatment they required. Systems were in place to ensure people’s needs were assessed and their care planned in accordance with best practice guidance and standards. Staff received training on how to deliver people’s care. This helped to support and maintain good outcomes for people along their care journey, which people and most relatives confirmed had been the case.

In 2024 changes were made to the day to management of the service. This brought about some positive changes but also changes which had not benefitted the service. There was no evidence to show people’s care had been negatively impacted, however the provider representative, (also the registered manager), had reviewed the provider’s strategic plans to ensure the service could continue to deliver its core business effectively. Governance arrangements were being reviewed to ensure quality monitoring processes remained effective in promoting and supporting service improvement. Senior staff were supporting staff through these changes.

Updated 16 January 2025

People and their relatives told us they had no concerns about safety, the environment or its cleanliness. People told us staff were caring and relatives told us they had not witnessed or heard anything which had caused them concern. Relatives considered most staff to be knowledgeable and well trained. They had no concerns about how people’s medicines were managed by the staff.

We received mixed feedback from relatives about staffing numbers. Most people and their relatives told us there were enough staff available to meet people’s needs. Some felt more staff would be beneficial at times and some had been aware of a higher turnover of staff in recent months. None felt this impacted on the care provided.

Most relatives told us they were satisfied with how their family member’s health needs were assessed and met. They told us staff referred their relatives to healthcare professionals for assessment and treatment. Staff worked closely with healthcare professionals to help facilitate timely assessments and treatment.

Relatives felt communication between them and the care staff was usually good. They told us they were well informed about any accidents and incidents involving their family member, including changes in health. They were positive about the standard of activities and food provided; a few wanted to see more outings taking place.

Relatives who wanted to be more involved in the planning and reviewing of their relative’s care had appreciated the opportunities to do this. Those who had wanted access to their relative’s care records had been supported to have this. Relatives told us they had appreciated the improvements in how they were kept up to date with what was going on in the service. They hoped these improvements continued.