Archived: Grassmere Residential Care Home

Grassmere Residential Care Home is a 26 bed care home. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people living at the home.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

People were not always kept safe and secure, and risks assessments were not always adhered to by members of staff.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed and were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to ensure that risk of harm was minimised.

Staff had been recruited appropriately and had received relevant training so that they were able to support people with their individual care and support needs.

Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and support. Staff understood when the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) should be followed.

People’s rights to privacy and dignity was respected and upheld by the staff that supported them.

People had a variety of food, drinks and snacks available throughout the day. They were able to choose the meals that they preferred to eat.

People were supported to stay healthy and had access to health care professionals as required. They were treated with kindness and compassion and there were positive interactions between staff and the people living at the location.

People’s choices and independence were respected and promoted. Staff responded appropriately to people’s support needs. People received care from staff that knew them well and benefitted from opportunities to take part in activities that they enjoyed.

Relatives and staff were confident about approaching the registered manager if they needed to. People and relatives views on the quality of the service were gathered and used to support service development.

Is the service safe?

We saw that people were cared for in an environment that was maintained and suitable to meet their needs. One person told us, 'They (staff) make sure I am alright.'

Whilst the provider had procedures in place to ensure that adequate records relating to the care of each person were kept, they were not being consistently maintained. This meant that care records did not always demonstrate that people received safe care. A compliance action has been set in relation to this and the provider must tell us how they plan to improve.

The acting manager told us that one Deprivation of Liberty had been made. Records confirmed that all the relevant professionals had been involved to ensure decisions were made in the person best interest. This meant the service had procedure in place to protect people when required and make decision on their behalf to keep them safe...

Is the care effective?

All the people we spoke with who used the service and their relatives told us they were happy with the care and that their needs were being met. One person told us, 'It's nice here, staff are very kind and I mainly do what I want.' We saw that staff knew people well and were attentive to their needs whilst supporting them to be independent. One person told us,' I am moving into my own home shortly, I am a bit worried but the staff have been very good in reassuring me.'

Is the service caring?

All the people we spoke with and their relatives told us that the staff were caring. One person told us, 'They (staff) help me when I need help but they always ask if they can do anything. 'During our inspection we observed the care of two people and indirectly observed the care of other people living there. We saw that staff regularly interacted with people. We saw staff ask people if they wanted drinks and encouraged them to make a choice of what they wanted. We saw that people looked comfortable when staff spoke with them. We saw that although the two people we were observing were not able to instigate conversations staff involved them in their care.

Is the service responsive?

All of the people spoken with told us they had no concerns or complaints. One person told us, "I'm happy here.' We saw staff responding to people when they asked for assistance. We saw that staff took their time to answer questions. All of the relatives spoken with told us if they raised any issues they were dealt with promptly. This showed that the provider ensured people's views were listened too.

Is the service well led?

We saw that the acting manager had started to send surveys to visiting professionals in February 2014 to gain their views about the service. The acting manager told us that none had been returned. We were told by the acting manager and we saw that meetings were held with the people who lived at the home to gain their views about the service provided. Staff told us that they were able to put forward ideas and the provider would listen and try and accommodate where possible to improve the service provided to people.

We saw that records in the home required improvement to ensure that care was provided safely at all times. Not all records seen were accurate in relation to people's care. A compliance action has been set in relation to this and the provider must tell us how they plan to improve.

The service does not have a registered manager. Which means the provider is in breach of their condition of their registration. This condition was imposed at the time of their registration with us. We have issued a fixed penalty notice which is a fine. We may take further action if the provider continues to be in breach of their conditions of registration.

People were supported in a way that enabled their privacy, dignity and independence to be respected. One person told us, "Staff ask my permission before they do anything''. All five people spoken with commented that they were happy with the service provided.

All of the staff spoken with was able to tell us about people's care needs so that they were cared for appropriately. One person told us, 'The staff look after me well, we go out so I can still do the things I used to do''. The visiting professional told us that their instructions had been followed by staff to ensure people's health care needs were met.

We saw that systems were in place to keep people safe from harm.

Staff did not have the support and the training to ensure their continued development and support people safely at all times.

There were systems in place to monitor and seek feedback from people using the service to ensure people received a quality service.

During our visit, we spoke with three people using the service, one relative, two staff and the manager. All three people using the service spoken with told us that staff were very caring and kind. Two people told us that they went out with staff each week and staff were very good company. Another person told, 'The new staff are just as good as the old staff you can have a good laugh with them all'. A relative told us, "They look after my relative really well, they are always clean and tidy and look happy'.