Updated 9 March 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 undertaken by one adult social care inspector on both days and an expert by experience on Day one. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. The expert-by-experience had personal experience of older adults and adults with dementia and people who used both residential and community services. Day one of the inspection was unannounced.
Service and service type:
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. The service was registered to accommodate 33 people who required residential care.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed the information that we held about the service and registered provider. This included any notifications and safeguarding information that the service had told us about. Statutory notifications are information that the service is legally required to tell us about and include significant events such as accidents, injuries and safeguarding notifications.
We liaised with commissioners of the service including local authorities, and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent organisation which collects people’s views about health and social care services. The feedback from these organisations was used in planning for the inspection and helped identify some key lines of enquiry.
During the inspection we examined many documents. These included five people’s care records, three staff recruitment files and information relating to supervision and training. We looked at the policies and procedures in place, and documents and other audits and checks completed by the service.
Approximately 26 staff were employed at the time of the inspection including care staff, office staff, housekeeping and kitchen staff. We spoke with staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, one senior carer, four care staff, one kitchen staff, an activities worker and the registered provider. We spoke with nine people using the service, four family members and two visiting professionals.
We completed checks of the premises and observed how staff cared for and supported people. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us to understand the experience of people who cannot talk with us. We observed three meal time experiences and used the SOFI to observe care on one occasion.