Amarna House Care Home

Updated 18 October 2018

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 6 and 7 September 2018. This was unannounced on day one and we told the provider we would be visiting on day two. On both days of our inspection two adult social care inspectors visited the service.

We reviewed information we held about the service, such as notifications we had received from the provider, information from the local authorities that commissioned services with them and Healthwatch. Notifications are when providers send us information about certain changes, events or incidents that occur within the service. Healthwatch is an independent service which exists to speak up and publicise the views of local people in health and social care settings.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) that the provider completed in January 2018. 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.

During the inspection we used the 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 spoke with six people living at the service and three visitors. We spoke with the regional manager, the registered manager, two senior care staff, two care workers and the cook.

We looked at records including; six care and support plans for people who used the service, five medication records, three staff recruitment files, training and supervision records. We looked at records involved with maintaining and improving the quality and safety of the service which included a range of audits and other checks.

Updated 18 October 2018

Amarna House Care Home is registered to provide residential and nursing care for up to 80 older people and younger adults who may be living with dementia, a physical disability of sensory impairment. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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. The home is situated in the Acomb district of York . The home is split in to four units over two floors. People who required nursing and residential care were supported on the ground floor and on the first-floor people living with a dementia related illness were supported in two separate areas.

This inspection took place on 6 and 7 September 2018. The first day was unannounced and the second day announced to ensure the registered manager was available to speak with us.

At our last inspection we rated the service ‘good’. At this inspection, the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The service had a registered manager who had been in post since January 2018. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.

Staff understood their responsibility to protect vulnerable adults from abuse and poor practice. Staff ensured documentation was reviewed to continuously meet the needs of people living at the service

People were kept safe by staff who were trained to monitor and risk assess the safety of equipment and utilities. There were communal areas for people to interact or sit quietly, which were clean, tidy and welcoming.

People’s bedrooms were personalised and staff were clear about the importance of paying attention to people's well-being, privacy, and independence.

The service provided safe staffing levels, and care workers received consistent supervision and training.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The staff provided a good standard of care to the people who lived there. They were aware of people's needs and treated them with dignity and respect. Staff listened to people and acted accordingly when asked for assistance.

People who used the service told us staff were caring. We observed meaningful interactions between staff and people throughout the inspection; feedback from people and their relatives was positive.

Care plans were person- centred and contained detailed information about people’s support needs.

A variety of activities were available every day and people who lived at the service were involved in the planning of these activities .

The registered manager worked in partnership with external health and social care professionals to ensure people's health and social care needs were met. Quality assurance processes were in place to monitor the quality of care delivered.

Further information is in the detailed finding below.