This inspection took place on 1 and 10 December 2015 and was unannounced on the first day. The home was previously inspected in August 2014 and the service was meeting the regulations we looked at.
Benton House is situated in the village of Rossington near Doncaster. The service is registered to provide both nursing and personal care for up to 34 people. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people living at the service.
The home had a registered manager. 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.
People who used the service and their relatives we spoke with told us the service provided good care and support. They told us they felt safe, the staff were caring, kind and respected their choices and decisions.
Medicines were stored safely and procedures were in place to ensure medicines were administered safely. However we identified some areas that required improvement, these had been identified in an audit and were being addressed.
We found the service to be meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The staff we spoke with had a good understanding and knowledge of this and the registered manager had assessed people who used the service to determine if an application for a DoLS was required.
People were supported with their dietary requirements. We found a varied, nutritious diet was provided. People we spoke with told us they enjoyed the food. From our observations we saw people enjoyed their meal.
We found staff approached people in a kind and caring way which encouraged people to express how and when they needed support. We saw staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and spoke to people with understanding, warmth and respect.
People’s needs had been identified, and from talking to people and observing staff supporting them, we found their needs were met by staff who knew them well. Care records we saw detailed people’s needs.
There were robust recruitment procedures in place, staff had received formal supervision. Qualified nursing staff had also received a monthly clinical supervision. Staff also received an annual appraisal of their work. These ensured development and training necessary to support staff to fulfil their roles and responsibilities was identified. Staff training was up to date which, ensured staff had the knowledge to meet people’s needs. We found that there were enough staff to keep people safe, although people told us there were times when staff were very busy. A new activities coordinator had been employed and had commenced in post the week of our inspection.
There were systems in place for monitoring quality, which were mostly effective. Although the registered manager had identified the medication audit required improvement. However, where improvements were needed, these were addressed and followed up to ensure continuous improvement.
We found some people who used the service were living well with dementia. However, we have made a recommendation that the provider consider best practice guidance in relation to the the use of contrasting colours on doors and walls and in particular table cloths and crockery. This will enable people to orientate themselves and improve visaually the meals for people living with dementia, when served on contrasting crockery.