Metchley Manor

Metchley Manor is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 98 people. The service provides care and support to younger and older people, people living with physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 57 people using the service.

Metchley Manor accommodates people in a large, purpose built dwelling across three units, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One unit specialises in providing care and support to people living with dementia.

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

People received a consistently high standard of care because the staff and management team placed people at the heart of the service. People told us they felt listened to and staff were kind, caring and compassionate. There was a friendly, positive atmosphere throughout the service. Staff had a good knowledge of people's needs, values and beliefs. People were involved in activities that were chosen by them and were meaningful to them. People and their relatives were involved in community projects and charity events to enable them to feel part of the community and have a sense of purpose.

The registered manager and staff were focused on providing a person led service that promoted positive outcomes for people. This was recognised with the service winning recent national awards. There was strong, clear leadership in the service and the registered manager was a role model for the staff providing direction and encouraging personal development of their skills and knowledge.

The care model for the service focused on the people living at Metchley Manor and actively promoted their independence and safety. Staff were aware of the responsibilities to keep people safe from abuse. The service was proactive in identifying areas that could put people at risk of avoidable harm. There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty to support people safely. Appropriate recruitment processes were in place to employ suitable staff to support people. Systems were in place to manage medicines safely. People were encouraged and supported to self-medicate to maintain their independence. The home was clean and well maintained.

People were actively involved in their care. Staff received appropriate training to carry out their duties effectively and had excellent relationships with people. Staff used effective communication skills to promote choice and independence. There was a special focus on nutritional and hydration and ensuring mealtimes were enjoyable, providing a social experience for people. The service embedded best practice to meet people's individual needs and ensured they received good healthcare.

Systems were in place to ensure people were able to make day to day decisions about their care and encourage people to do so. 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.

The registered manager promoted a culture of being open and honest, so people and their family members had confidence in the service being provided. There was a robust quality assurance system in place. Actions were taken in response to findings and the provider had a clear accountability structure in place. Incidents were shared with staff and reflective practice was used at all levels to drive improvement. Where we identified minor shortfalls as part of the inspection these were acknowledged and promptly actioned by the registered manager and their management team.

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

The last rating for the service under their previous provider was good, published on 23 June 2018.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Metchley Manor on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.