Archived: Ailsa House Residential Care Home

Updated 11 February 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 14 December 2015 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of caring for older people and people living with dementia.

We reviewed the information we held about the service including safeguarding alerts and other notifications. This refers specifically to incidents, events and changes the provider and manager are required to notify us about by law.

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 13 people who used the service, five relatives, three members of staff, the registered manager and the registered provider.

We reviewed four people’s care plans and care records. We looked at the service’s staff support records for three members of staff. We also looked at the service’s arrangements for the management of medicines, complaints and compliments information and quality monitoring and audit information.

Updated 11 February 2016

The inspection was completed on 14 December 2015 and there were 16 people living in the service when we inspected.

Ailsa House Residential Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 18 older people and people living with dementia.

A registered manager was in post. 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. This is the service's first inspection since being newly registered on 5 November 2015.

People and those acting on their behalf told us the service was a safe place to live. There were sufficient staff available to meet their needs and appropriate arrangements were in place to recruit staff safely.

Staff were able to demonstrate a good understanding and knowledge of people’s specific support needs, so as to ensure their and others’ safety. Care plans accurately reflected people’s care and support needs. People received appropriate support to have their social care needs met.

Medicines were safely stored, recorded and administered in line with current guidance to ensure people received their prescribed medicines to meet their needs. This meant that people received their prescribed medicines as they should and in a safe way. People had support to access healthcare professionals and services when required and peoples healthcare arrangements were managed well.

Staff understood the risks and signs of potential abuse and the relevant safeguarding processes to follow. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were appropriately assessed, managed and reviewed.

Staff received opportunities for training and this ensured that staff employed at the service had the right skills to meet people’s needs. Staff demonstrated a good understanding and awareness of how to treat people with respect and dignity.

The dining experience for people was positive and people were complimentary about the quality of meals provided. People who used the service and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

The registered manager understood and complied with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff employed within the service were aware of their role in relation to MCA and DoLS and how to support people so not to place them at risk of being deprived of their liberty.

People and their relatives told us that if they had any concern they would discuss these with the management team or staff on duty. People were confident that their complaints or concerns were listened to, taken seriously and acted upon.

There was an effective system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of the service provided. The registered manager was able to demonstrate how they measured and analysed the care provided to people, and how this ensured that the service was operating safely and was continually improving to meet people’s needs.