We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.
The inspection was unannounced. This meant the provider did not know we were going to inspect. The last inspection took place on 4 February 2014, during which, we found there were no breaches in the regulations.
Freda Gunton Lodge Residential Home is a purpose built care home that provides accommodation for up to 40 older people and older people living with dementia related care needs. At the time of our inspection there were 38 people living at the service.
The provider is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. At the time of our inspection a registered manager was employed at the service.
People told us that they were happy with the care and support provided at the service. We saw that staff provided good levels of care and staff were able to demonstrate that they knew the needs of the people they supported.
Medication practices at the service were not robust and did not ensure that people’s medicines were managed safely.
The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. We found that people who used the service had their capacity to make day-to-day decisions formally assessed. At the time of our inspection, DoLS referrals to the supervisory body (Local Authority) were being considered.
We found that appropriate systems were in place to ensure that there were sufficient numbers of suitable staff employed at the service. Arrangements were in place to ensure that newly employed staff received an induction and received opportunities for training. Records also showed that staff received regular supervision and an annual appraisal in line with the service’s policy and procedures.
The care needs of people living at the service were assessed and recorded. Risk to people’s health and wellbeing were clearly identified so as to minimise these and ensure people’s safety. We found that people’s healthcare needs were considered and access to healthcare professionals provided where appropriate.
Our observations throughout our inspection showed that people’s privacy and dignity were respected and upheld.
The provider had responded to people’s complaints and concerns in line with the complaints procedure. We found that people had been listened to and the issues raised had been acted upon. People told us that they felt confident and able to raise issues.
We found that people’s nutritional needs had been recorded and the dining experience for people living at the service to be positive.
The provider was able to demonstrate that there were effective systems in place that assessed and monitored the quality of the service provided. The views of the people who used the service, their relatives, staff employed at the service and visiting healthcare professionals had been sought and the majority of comments were positive.
We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. This referred specifically to the management of medicines and assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.