3 July 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Tamar House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 21 people. The service provides support to adults, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service.
Tamar House is an adapted building offering accommodation over two levels. There are various shared living areas in the home which include a lounge, a dining room and shared bathing facilities. In addition, there is a wheelchair accessible garden and patio area to the rear of the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Care plans and risk assessments were in place. Information was being reviewed and updated to ensure this was person centred and remained reflective of people’s needs. Staff were familiar of people and their needs and were knowledgeable of measures in place to mitigate risk of harm and injury.
Agency staff had been utilised to address the challenges experienced by the provider in staffing. A successful recruitment drive had taken place. Systems were in place to ensure recruitment was safe. Staff received training to equip them for their role. The registered manager conducted daily walks of the home and regular checks of staff competency. This provided assurance of the staff skill, knowledge and safe delivery of care and support.
People and their relatives told us the care provided by staff reassured them and made them feel safe. A relative said, “My [family member] is absolutely safe. The staff and care is second to none. I’ve been in other homes, and I believe this one is the best.”
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Quality assurance processes were in place. The registered manager analysed findings of audits and took actions to address shortfalls. An action plan was in place to support with driving continual improvement to the standard of care provided.
People, their relatives and staff found the registered manager to be approachable and were confident they would be listened to. A staff member told us, “[Registered manager] is very approachable and values everybody. They are one of the best we have had.”
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 11 May 2018).
Why we inspected
We received concerns related to the staffing and management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Tamar House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.