8 November 2017
During a routine inspection
Allendale House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service provides accommodation and personal care for a maximum of 20 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. It is located close to the centre of the market town of Hedon, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and within walking distance of shops, leisure and health services. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people using the service.
We last carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service on 25 August 2015. At the last inspection we rated the service overall Good with requires improvement for the key question "Is the service safe."
We recommended the registered provider ensured people always received their medication safely according to the policy, which should include information on administering medicines safely, and whenever possible in private to maintain peoples’ dignity. At this inspection we found improvements had been made. We found the service remained Good overall.
At the time of our inspection the service did not have a registered manager. The manager in post was in the process of applying to become the registered manager and an application to register with the Care Quality Commission had been submitted in October 2017. 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.
Recruitment processes were safe and staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs.
Staff knew how to keep people safe and understood their duty to protect people from the risk of abuse. Risks were managed so that people were protected from avoidable harm.
There were systems in place to ensure people’s medicines were safely managed. We found people received their medicines as prescribed.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People received food and drink according to their needs and were also supported by health and social care professionals when required.
We observed positive interactions between people and staff. People told us staff were kind and caring towards them and the care they received was good.
Each person had a care plan that was suitably detailed to ensure they were at the centre of their care. People's care and support was kept under review and, where appropriate, they were involved in decisions about their care.
People told us they were happy with the activities organised at the service. People were aware of how to raise any concerns they had.
There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service to ensure people received a good service that supported their health, welfare and well-being.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.