About the service The Lodge Retirement Home is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 14 people aged 65 and over. At the time of the inspection, 12 people were living in the home. The home provides accommodation over two floors and there is a stair lift available to access the first floor.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Improvements had been made and the home was well-led. The registered manager had a robust governance and auditing system in place. Audits were up to date and identified any lessons learnt following incidents and accidents so that they could take action to keep people safe.
The planning and provision of meaningful activities for people had improved. One person told us, “[Staff name] has made all the difference for me with the activities. There is lots to do in the afternoons, we have lots of different projects.” Another commented, “There is enough to do here at the home. They organise things for you.”
People told us they were safe at The Lodge Retirement Home and risks were managed well. A person told us, “I feel safe at the Lodge. I trust the staff here, they are very good, lovely actually, more like family.”
Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely. The home had recently moved medicines into each person’s bedroom. One staff member stated, “Medication being in the room makes it more personalised. You aren’t going around with a trolley and less likely to make an error, the pharmacy supported us to make this change.”
Care plans and risk assessments were person centred. People and relatives told us staff knew them well. Staff supported people in a kind and compassionate way, considering their dignity and respect.
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, relatives and staff spoke positively of the culture within the home. One person told us, “Staff here are lovely, they are just like your family, you feel as though you can talk to them about anything.” Staff and relatives we spoke with all described the home as a “family”. The registered manager told us, “The Lodge is a hidden gem, you may not know it’s here but once you come in, you’re hooked”.
The home was following up to date government guidance relating to COVID-19 for care homes. Cleaning and infection control procedures followed the relevant COVID-19 guidance to help protect people, visitors and staff from the risk of infection.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 6 August 2019).
The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
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.
The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Lodge Retirement Home 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.