Archived: Victoria Lodge

Updated 20 July 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 11 and 12 May 2016 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

We reviewed the information we held about by home including notifications sent to us by the provider. Notifications are forms that the provider is required by law to send us about incidents that occur at the home.

We spoke with five people living at the home, four relatives, four members of staff, a visiting health professional and the registered manager. As some people were unable to tell us their views of the service, we used a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We looked at three people’s care records, two staff recruitment files and 11 medication records. We also looked at records kept on accidents and incidents, complaints and staff training. We then looked at audits completed to monitor the quality of the service.

Updated 20 July 2016

Our inspection took place on 11 & 12 May 2016 and was unannounced. Our last inspection of the service took place in March 2015 and the provider was rated as Requires Improvement.

Victoria Lodge is registered to provide accommodation and personal care to a maximum of 63 older people who may have a diagnosis of Dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 59 people living at the home.

There was a registered manager at the home. 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 told us they felt there were not enough staff to meet their needs and that they had an extended wait when support was needed. However, we observed that there were sufficient numbers of staff available. We saw that staff had undergone appropriate recruitment processes to ensure they were safe to work and had access to ongoing training and supervision to support them in their role.

We saw that staff had received training in how to give medication and were observed doing this by the registered manager to ensure they remained competent in this. However, we found there were errors in the recording of medication given that meant the provider was unable to evidence these medications had been given as prescribed.

People were given choices by staff and had their rights upheld in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Where people lacked capacity to make decisions, best interests meetings were held to ensure their rights were maintained.

We saw that choices were given at mealtimes but people had expressed that they were not always satisfied with the meals made available to them. We saw that the registered manager was taking action to improve the quality of food.

Staff had a kind and caring approach. People told us they were treated with dignity and we saw that people had access to advocacy services when required. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and knew their preferences with regards to their care.

People were aware of how to make complaints. We saw that no complaints had been made but the registered manager could explain how any complaints would be managed.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service. Where areas for improvement were identified, these were acted upon by the registered manager. We saw that people and their relatives were given opportunity to feedback on the service they were provided with and that suggestions made were implemented.