Appleby House

Updated 25 April 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by three inspectors.

Service and service type:

Appleby House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. 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:

We reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the statutory notifications that had been submitted since the last inspection. Notifications are changes, events and incidents that the service must inform us about. We used information the provider sent us in their Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we met with 14 people and seven relatives/friends to ask them about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven staff including the registered manager. We also received feedback from seven other health and social care professionals who were involved with the service.

We reviewed a range of records. These included four people’s care and medicine records. We also looked at the recruitment files for three staff and information relating to their training and supervision. The registered manager showed us documents relating to the management of the service, including how feedback is gathered and acted upon and the audits in place to maintain the safety and quality of the care delivered.

Updated 25 April 2019

About the service: Appleby is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Appleby House is owned and operated by Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd. It provides accommodation and nursing care for up to 75 older people who are living with dementia. There were 66 people living in the service at the time of our visit. The service is arranged into five individual units, referred to as ‘suites’ throughout this report.

People’s experience of using this service: Without exception people praised the quality of support provided at Appleby House and we were repeatedly told they “Couldn’t wish for anything better.” Without hesitation, people and their representatives said they would recommend the service to others.

Appleby House had an excellent reputation within the local community and was widely recognised for the high-quality dementia care provided. The registered manager had been awarded ‘Registered Manager of the Year’ for 2018.

People and staff identified themselves as being part of the ‘Appleby Family’ and the warmth and strength of bonds across the service was evident from the moment of arrival. The service had embraced recognised dementia best practice models and as such the physical environment provided people with a vibrant and specialist space to live.

People received exceptional care in a way that was personalised and responsive to their changing needs. A high ratio of staff meant people never had to wait long for assistance and there was also someone around to help them or chat with. People had confidence in the staff who supported them and felt safe in their care.

Staff were well trained and skilled at supporting people living with dementia to lead independent, active and fulfilling lives. People had numerous opportunities to participate in new activities and were encouraged to share and continue with existing hobbies.

Staff worked in partnership with community health professionals and therapists to maximise people’s well-being and wherever possible, improve their health. People enjoyed a wide range of nutritionally balanced meals and specialist diets and preferences were catered for.

People benefitted from living in a well organised, forward thinking home where their needs were always put first. The culture of the home was open, and people felt confident to express their views and opinions.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Published August 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We service has improved from Good to Outstanding.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.