Archived: The Hollies

Updated 21 September 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We undertook this unannounced inspection of The Hollies on 11 August 2015.

Before our inspection we reviewed information we have about the provider, including notifications of any safeguarding and incidents affecting the safety and wellbeing of people.

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors. We spoke with 15 of the 19 people living at the home and six relatives who were visiting on the day of the inspection. We spoke with five staff and the registered manager.

We observed interactions between staff and people using the service as we wanted to see if the way that staff communicated and supported people had a positive effect on their well-being.

We looked at six people’s care plans and other documents relating to people’s care including risk assessments and medicines records. We looked at other records held at the home including staff meeting minutes as well as health and safety documents and quality audits and surveys.

Updated 21 September 2015

This inspection took place on 11 August 2015 and was unannounced. At our last inspection in April 2015 the service was not meeting the standard in relation to the safe management of medicines. At this inspection we found that the service was now meeting this standard.

The Hollies is a care home for older adults. The maximum number of people they can accommodate is 19. On the day of the inspection there were 19 people residing at the home.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 told us they felt safe at the home and safe with the staff who supported them. They told us that staff were patient, kind and respectful. They said they were satisfied with the numbers of staff and that they didn’t have to wait too long for assistance.

People were positive about the staff and staff had the knowledge and skills necessary to support them properly. People told us that the service was responsive to their needs and preferences.

The registered manager and staff at the home had identified and highlighted potential risks to people’s safety and had thought about and recorded how these risks could be reduced.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and told us they would presume a person could make their own decisions about their care and treatment in the first instance. Staff told us it was not right to make choices for people when they could make choices for themselves.

Food looked and smelt appetising and staff were aware of any special diets people required either as a result of a clinical need or a cultural preference.

There were systems in place to ensure medicines were handled and stored securely and administered to people safely and appropriately.

People had good access to healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists, chiropodists and opticians and any changes to people’s needs were responded to appropriately and quickly.

People told us staff listened to them and respected their choices and decisions.

People using the service and staff were positive about the registered manager. They confirmed that they were asked about the quality of the service and had made comments about this.

People felt the management took their views into account in order to improve service delivery.