This inspection took place on 7 March 2018 and was unannounced. At our last comprehensive inspection of the service in December 2015 the service was rated ‘good’ overall and ‘requires improvement’ in our key question “is the service responsive?” Although we did not find the provider in breach of legal requirements at that time, we found people did not always have enough social and recreational activities to engage in.Elmglade Residential Home is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Elmglade Residential Home accommodates up to 23 older people in one adapted building. At the time of this inspection there were twenty people using the service.
The service continued to have a registered manager in post. At this inspection we found the registered manager had not met their legal obligation to submit notifications to CQC of events or incidents involving people at the service. Failure to notify CQC of these incidents meant we could not check that the provider had taken appropriate action to ensure people's safety and welfare in these instances.
The provider had not taken appropriate action to improve the quality of the service for people when required. At our last inspection we made a recommendation to the provider to review the provision of activities. We found little improvement had been made to increase opportunities for people to have their social and physical needs met. People and their relatives said there was still not enough to do to keep them engaged and stimulated. The registered manager told us some attempt had been made to increase activity provision but acknowledged that not enough had been done to make the improvements required. The provider also did not act quickly enough to make improvements to the service when these had been suggested by people and staff.
Aspects of the premises posed a risk of injury and harm to people. The provider did not formally assess risks posed by the premises to identify potential hazards to people. We found people were not sufficiently protected from the risk of scalding as hot water temperatures exceeded permitted safe levels in some parts of the premises. Window restrictors had not been fitted on some first floor windows to protect people from a fall from these windows. In one person’s room, carpet was torn in two places which posed a potential trip hazard and increased the risk of falls.
However, the provider had continued to maintain a servicing programme of the premises and the equipment used by staff to ensure those areas of the service covered by these checks did not pose unnecessary risks to people.
The premises were generally clean but some parts would have benefitted from additional cleaning. Staff followed good practice to ensure risks to people were minimised from poor hygiene and cleanliness when providing personal care, cleaning the premises and when preparing and storing food.
The provider’s quality assurance systems were ineffective and did not identify the issues we found at the service. The provider did not undertake any formal reviews of the service themselves so could not be assured that checks and audits were looking at the right things and that managers were appropriately identifying gaps and shortfalls at the service that needed to be addressed.
Notwithstanding the issues above, people and staff spoke positively about the registered manager and deputy manager and said they were approachable, supportive and listened. The registered manager worked in partnership with other agencies to develop and improve the delivery of care to people.
People said they felt safe at Elmglade Residential Home. Staff had access to appropriate guidance on how to minimise identified individual risks to people due to their specific needs to help keep people safe. Staff were supported to take appropriate action to ensure people were protected if they suspected they were at risk of abuse.
There were enough staff to meet people’s needs at the time of this inspection. However staffing levels were not routinely reviewed in line with changes in people’s needs to ensure there were enough staff to meet people’s needs at all times.
The provider carried out appropriate checks on staff’s suitability and fitness to support people. Staff had regular and relevant training. Staff felt well motivated and said managers supported them in their roles and dealt with their concerns appropriately.
The design and set up of the environment provided people with a degree of flexibility in terms of how they wished to spend their time. People were given space and privacy to meet with their visitors if they wanted this. However some aspects of the environment were not tailored to support people living with dementia. There was minimal signage to help people orientate around the premises and the general décor offered little visual stimulation for people.
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 continued to contribute to the planning of their care and support. People’s needs and specific preferences for how they wished to be cared for and supported were set out in their personalised support plan. Senior staff reviewed people’s care and support needs regularly to ensure staff had up to date information about these.
People said staff were able to meet their needs. They said staff were kind and caring. Staff provided people with support that was dignified, respectful and which maintained their privacy at all times. They prompted people to be as independent as they could and wanted to be. Staff had received training to ensure that people would receive support at the end of their life that was comfortable and dignified.
People were encouraged to eat and drink enough to meet their needs. Staff supported people to take their prescribed medicines when required. These were stored safely and securely. Staff monitored and recorded their observations about people’s general health and wellbeing and shared this information with all involved in people’s care. When they had concerns about people they took appropriate action so that medical care and attention could be sought promptly from the relevant healthcare professionals.
Overall, people were mostly satisfied with the care and support they received from staff. People knew how to make a complaint if needed and the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to deal with these.
At this inspection we found the provider in breach of legal requirements with regard to safe care and treatment, good governance and notifications of other incidents. You can see what action we told the provider to take with regard to this breach at the back of the full version of the report.