25 April 2022
During a routine inspection
Douglas House is a residential care home providing regulated activity of personal and nursing care to up to a maximum of 30 people. People living in the home have a range of needs which include complex physical nursing needs and disabilities. At the time of the inspection 22 people were living at the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were supported by staff who were kind and caring and who understood their needs, preferences and what was important to them. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity, encouraged people with making choices, and promoted independence.
People received person-centred care. Each person had personalised care plans which included information about people's life, their communication and their care needs and preferences. People were involved in care planning and reviewing their care.
Risk assessments detailed people's individual risks associated with people’s physical health needs and medical conditions as well as risks associated with nutrition, moving and handling, pressure ulcer prevention and choking.
People felt safe and were protected from the potential risk of harm and abuse. Staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding people and followed the provider's policy and procedure.
Staff sought people's consent before providing support. 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.
The provider operated safe and robust recruitment and selection procedures to make sure staff were suitable and safe to work with people.
During the inspection we saw there were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs. However, some people told us this was not always the case at weekends and at night. This was discussed with the provider who told us they had recognised this and this was being addressed.
People were supported to eat and drink a healthy and nutritious diet. There was a choice of meals and people's preference was sought.
People had access to a wide range of activities on offer, both within the service and in the community, to help prevent people becoming socially isolated and to keep people active.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Incidents and accidents were investigated, trends analysed, and actions were taken to prevent recurrence.
There were processes in place for people to raise any complaints and express their views and opinions about the service provided.
The premises were maintained and checked to help ensure the safety of people, staff and visitors.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 6 August 2019, and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection as the service had not had a rated inspection since registering with us.
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, which will help inform when we next inspect.