Oakwood Lodge

Oakwood Lodge is a care home registered to accommodate and support up to eight people with mental health needs over two floors. At the time of the inspection, six people were living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

Right Support:

This was a targeted inspection that considered risks to people, whether their needs were assessed and how they were supported to eat and drink. Risks to people were assessed and monitored. Risk were recorded in people’s care plans and regularly reviewed. There were infection prevention and control actions in place. People’s needs were assessed so the service knew whether they could support those needs or not. People were supported to eat and drink as per their needs and choices.

Right Care:

This was a targeted inspection that considered whether there was sufficient staff, whether staff were trained appropriately and how staff recorded and shared people’s ongoing care. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were trained to support people, including some specialist training, such as how to use a de-choker. Staff communicated effectively with each recording people’s care, which could be shared with other health and social care professionals where appropriate.

Right Culture:

This was a targeted inspection that considered whether there were lessons learned when things went wrong, whether quality assurance measures were sufficient and whether staff and management understood their roles and were supported in them. Lessons were learned when things went wrong; incidents were recorded, and actions completed to keep people safe. There were quality assurance measures, such as audits, which the registered manager used to monitor the quality of care provided to people. Staff and management were clear about their roles and the provider supported staff following incidents.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (13 July 2022).

Why we inspected

We undertook this targeted inspection to check on a specific concern we had about the unexpected death of someone using the service. The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains Good.

We use targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

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.

Oakwood Lodge is a care home registered to accommodate and support for up to eight people with mental health needs. At the time of the inspection, eight people were living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service

Most care plans contained suitable and sufficient risk assessments to effectively manage risks and help keep people safe. However, risk assessment for one person was not being followed in full. Medicines were administered as prescribed. However, PRN protocols where not in place for medicines only to be given when needed. We made a recommendation in this area.

Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to support people. Staff were aware on how to safeguard people from abuse. There were appropriate numbers of staff to support people when required.

Staff had completed essential training to perform their roles effectively and staff felt supported in their role. 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.

People received care from staff who were kind and compassionate. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. Staff had developed positive relationships with the people they supported. They understood people’s needs, preferences, and what was important to them. People were encouraged to be independent and to carry out tasks without support.

Care plans were person centred and included people’s support needs. People participated in regular activities to support them to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolation.

Systems were in place for quality assurance and quality monitoring to ensure people received high quality care.

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 8 April 2020 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.