Archived: Inglewood Residential Care Home Limited

Inglewood residential care home provides care for up to 24 people, some of whom were living with dementia. There were 23 people living there at the time of our inspection. Inglewood residential care home is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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.

The staff team were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The staff team understood how to protect adults from situations in which they would be vulnerable to harm and abuse. Staff had received suitable training and talked to us about how they would identify any issues and how they would report them appropriately. Risk assessments and risk management plans supported people well. Arrangements were in place to ensure that new members of staff had been suitably checked before commencing employment. All new staff completed an induction.

Any accidents or incidents had been reported to the Care Quality Commission as necessary and suitable action taken to lessen the risk of further issues. Risk assessments and care plans provided guidance for staff in the home. Where possible, people in the service were involved in writing care plans. The management team had ensured the plans reflected the person-centred care that was being delivered.

Medicines were appropriately managed in the service with people having reviews of their medicines on a regular basis. People in the home saw their GP and health specialists whenever necessary and were supported to attend hospital appointments.

We saw that an assessment of needs was in place. People were happy with the food provided. The home itself was clean and comfortable on the day we visited. Suitable equipment was in place to support people with their mobility.

Complaints and concerns were suitably investigated and dealt with and good records management was in place in the service. There was also a quality monitoring system in place which was used to support future planning. People were able to access a variety of activities to help them have a structured and meaningful day.

Inglewood Residential Care Home Limited (Inglewood) is a privately owned, family run home. The home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 26 older adults.

The home is situated in a residential area to the west of Carlisle city centre. Inglewood is set in its own grounds, with garden areas and a car park.

Accommodation is provided in single bedrooms, most of which have en-suite facilities. There are communal facilities available, including dining and lounge areas, bathrooms, shower rooms and toilets.

There is a registered manager in post at the service. 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.

One of the people that lived at Inglewood told us; “I can ask staff for anything I need. I am treated nicely by the girls (staff). We have a bit of banter, which I like, the staff are never rude to me, I’m treated very nicely thank you.”

People said; that the staff were “very good” and that they were “very happy” with the service. One person told us; “The staff are very good. They know what they are doing and I always feel safe when they are helping me.”

One visitor to the home told us; “The staff are very good here. I have never seen or heard anything untoward and my relative has been here over seven years.” Another commented; “My relative is looked after very, very well. Placing my relative in a home was a difficult decision to make. The staff were lovely and the manager helped me with the decision making. It has worked out very well and we are both very pleased and very satisfied with the service provided.”

We spoke to the community nurse who was visiting the home at the time of our inspection. The nurse told us that the people who used this service “Always appeared well cared for and happy.” The nurse also said that staff “always follow any instructions we leave” and that any referrals to the nurses were “appropriate and timely”.

There were some minor omissions in falls risk assessment records and staff recruitment checks. However, risk assessments had been completed and prospective staff had undergone the more important checks prior to their employment. Records relating to people’s care and treatment were stored securely and generally provided an up to date account of care and support needs. We saw that people had received reviews of their care needs but dates of reviews were not consistently recorded. We discussed these matters with the registered manager at the time of our inspection.

We looked at the way in which the service protected the rights of people who may lack the capacity to make particular decisions. The senior staff that we spoke to could give us an overview of the process and they told us that they had received some training on the subject. However, there were no formal procedures in place to help ensure staff acted within the law.

Staff at the home had been provided with training to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. They also met regularly with the senior staff to enable them to discuss their work and further training needs.

We found that the home was clean, tidy and fresh smelling. The people we spoke to during our visit told us that the home was “always lovely and clean” and “there are never any unpleasant smells.” Staff understood their roles with regards to infection control and prevention. Although people had their own personal bedrooms at Inglewood, there was a variety of communal areas for people to spend their time in if they wish. For example; comfortable lounges, garden room, garden areas and specially adapted bathrooms and shower rooms.

People were well supported with their nutritional and hydration needs. Likes, dislikes and preferences had all been sought and recorded. People were able to choose what they wanted for their meals. Everyone we spoke to about the food and meals provided were very satisfied and very complimentary about the standard of meals provided.

We observed that staff showed concern for people in a caring way. Staff approached people in a friendly manner, provided explanations or just stopped to have a chat with someone.

People told us that staff supported them to attend hospital appointments and we observed that staff responded quickly to concerns about health and wellbeing.

People who used this service received an assessment of their care and support needs. The assessments took account of people’s independence and preferences.

People had access to social and leisure activities, both in the home and in the wider community.

There was a complaints process in place at the home. People knew who to raise concerns with, but no one we spoke to had ever made a complaint about the service.

The service carried out quality assurance surveys, the last one being 18 months ago. We looked at a sample of the returned surveys and the final report. We found that everyone was happy with the quality of service they received.

Maintenance records kept at the home showed that equipment was regularly serviced. There were risk assessments in place at the home and included emergency contingency plans should the home need to be evacuated.

We have made a recommendation about the assessment and prevention of falls in older people.

We have made a recommendation that the service reviews their recruitment processes.

We have made a recommendation that the service reviews its processes in order to reflect best practice in the application for DoL orders.