Faith House Residential Home

Updated 13 January 2025

Date of Assessment: 20 January to 12 February 2025.

Faith House Residential Home is a care home which provides care to older people. We carried out this assessment to follow up on the previous breaches of regulation. We checked to see if improvements had been made. The assessment included 1 visit to the service by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. A second Expert by experience made calls to people’s family to gather their feedback. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. A follow up call was held with the service on 13 February 2024, to gather further information for this assessment.

At our last inspection the service was rated requires improvement. At this assessment, although some improvements had been made, other shortfalls identified meant the service continued to be rated requires improvement.We assessed 9 quality statements in safe and well led. We found the service was no longer in breach of the legal regulation relating to staffing but continued to be in breach of the legal regulation for good governance. Additionally the service was in breach of the legal regulation in relation to safe care and treatment.

Some environmental risks had not been sufficiently assessed and addressed in a timely way. There were systems to identify and assess individual risks to people. However, some risk assessments had not been reviewed and updated.

Medicines were not always managed safely. Where people received their medicines covertly, we found not all necessary procedures had been followed. We identified there was insufficient written guidance for topical medicines and medicines prescribed PRN ‘as required’.

The provider's governance systems were not always effective in monitoring and improving the quality of the service. Action was not always taken to sufficiently assess and address shortfalls in a timely way.

People told us they were happy living at the service, and they felt safe. Staff treated people with kindness and compassion. Staff encouraged people to maintain relationships with family and friends.

Improvements had been made to staffing levels and the provider had increased the staffing levels during the nightshift. The provider told us they had focused on recruiting staff since the last inspection and now had a core team of regular staff. The staff received the appropriate training to carry out their role effectively and safely.

Improvements had been made within the environment of the home. This included a new kitchen, corridors and communal areas redecorated and new front doors to the building.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 13 January 2025

People and their relatives were positive about the quality of their care. We spoke with 4 people in person who lived at the home and 5 relatives by telephone, regarding their experience of the care provided. We spent time observing people’s interactions with staff.

We asked people if they felt safe living at the service. They told us, “I feel safe yes”, “Yes, well when I came in here there’s a comfortable bed and staff about if I need any help.” Relatives spoke positively about the care, attention to detail and communication between themselves, their relatives and staff. We observed the staff repeatedly reminding 1 person to walk with their zimmer frame to ensure their safety.

People appeared well cared for and looked comfortable in the presence of the staff. Most people spent time in the communal lounge and were sat in armchairs facing the TV which was playing music for most the day. Our observations of people’s interactions with staff were mixed. Some interactions were seen to be positive and person centred, whilst others were seen to be more functional and task orientated. We observed the staff changed the channel without asking for the views or wishes of people. Some people used the tables in the communal lounges to take part in craft activities. On the day of our visit the deputy had organised a painting activity. This enabled people to focus on pottery and painting for over an hour.

We asked people and relatives what it was like for them and their relatives to live at the service. People told us, “It was hard to start with, totally new environment for me. Getting the feel of it now.”, “Very nice. We just go where we want to go. They provide you with things to eat that you like and it’s very comfortable.” A relative told us, “Mum had a bad experience at the previous home but now she looks very fit and healthy.”

Relatives were overall pleased with the environment. One relative told us, “We were encouraged to do anything we liked with mum’s room. All the furniture is from her home all the pictures on the wall etc. We have done up her room like a room at home. It makes such a difference.”

The relatives we spoke with confirmed there were enough staff on duty. One relative told us, “If at any time the home is one member of staff down, to be present in the lounge, the manager takes her work into the lounge and sits observing what is going on and also delivering care if and when required.”