Archived: Richmond House

Updated 3 August 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Richmond House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed all the information we held about the service. We contacted relevant agencies such as the local Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and one relative. We also spoke with four staff, two senior support workers and the registered manager.

We reviewed three people's care records, policies and procedures, records relating to the management of the service, including training records and quality audits.

After the inspection

We obtained feedback from a social care professional who regularly visits the service.

Updated 3 August 2019

About the service

Richmond House is a transitional and short stay service. This is usually for respite care or while awaiting other care provision to be arranged. The provider is registered to provide accommodation for up to 20 persons aged 65 and over who require personal care at this service. At the time of the inspection there were 12 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Overall, medicines were managed safely. Action was taken at the time of the inspection to improve medicines records. Staff were trained in medicines management, but their competency was not formally checked. We have made a recommendation about medicine competency checks. The premises were clean, and staff showed a good awareness of fire safety. However, fire training updates were overdue. Plans were made at the time of the inspection to rectify this. People were happy and felt safe at the service. They were supported by staff who were trained to recognise and report any signs of abuse. Overall, staffing numbers were enough to keep people safe. Most individual risks were managed appropriately. Some risk management records had not been updated when changes occurred.

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. Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their roles effectively. Staff supported people to access healthcare and maintain good nutrition. People enjoyed their meals and said there was plenty of choice.

People told us staff were caring and treated them well. Staff understood the importance of treating people with dignity and respect. Independence was promoted, and people’s privacy was respected. Staff knew

people well and used effective techniques to reassure people. Some people said they would like more activities and were sometimes bored.

Auditing and quality assurance processes were in place to enable the service to identify where improvement was needed and in the main, these were effective. The registered manager was open and transparent and created a culture which was friendly and welcoming.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good. (report published 17 January 2017)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.