This unannounced inspection took place on 8 June 2017 and was carried out by one adult social care inspector. This was the first inspection of this location following a change to the registered provider. Rathside Rest Home is located in Scawby, near Brigg. It is registered to provide care and support for up to 32 people and on the day of our inspection there were no vacancies. Care is provided for older people and for those living with dementia. Accommodation is provided on two floors with communal areas provided on each one. The ground floor is used to provide accommodation for people living with dementia; the first floor accommodates people who require help and support with personal care. There is a small car park at the front of the service for visitors to use.
The service had a registered manger in place. 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.
During our inspection there were some shortfalls found with medicine management, fire safety and infection control. Issues found were addressed straight away. A recommendation has been made in regard to the medicine issues that were found. The quality monitoring undertaken by the management team had not been effective at identifying and rectifying the issues that we found. This demonstrated a breach of Regulation 17, Good Governance of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this report.
The management team and staff had developed very good relationships with people who used the service and with their relatives. Staff knew people's individual care and support needs very well. People told us the staff were extremely kind and caring and respected their privacy and dignity.
People were supported to maintain their relationships with friends and family. Comments from people and their relatives were very complimentary about how caring the staff were.
End of life care was provided in a caring way to people and their relatives.
Staff understood they had a duty to protect people from abuse and knew they must report concerns or potential abuse to the management team, local authority or to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This helped to protect people.
Staffing levels provided on the day of our inspection were adequate to meet people’s needs. Staff were aware of the risks to people’s health and wellbeing and knew what action they must take to minimise those risks.
Training in a variety of subjects was provided to staff to help maintain and develop their skills. Staff received supervision to monitor their performance. Yearly appraisals for staff were just being scheduled.
People’s nutritional needs were assessed and monitored, special diets were catered for. Staff prompted and assisted people to eat and drink so their nutritional needs were met.
Staff promoted people’s independence and choice and encouraged people to make decisions for themselves. They reworded questions or information to help people living with dementia to understand what was being said.
People were supported to make their own decisions about aspects of their daily lives. Staff followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 when people lacked capacity and important decisions needed to be made.
The home was inviting and decorated well, a new reminiscence room had been created for people to use. Reminiscence aids were placed around the service to help to stimulate people’s minds. Signage was in place to help people find their way around and to locate toilets and bathrooms. People’s bedroom doors were numbered, named or had memory boxes present with personal items to help people find their room.
General maintenance occurred and service contracts were in place to maintain equipment to ensure it remained safe to use.
A complaints procedure was in place. People’s views were asked for informally by staff and through the use of questionnaires. Feedback received was acted upon to ensure people remained satisfied with the service.
A variety of audits were undertaken to monitor the quality of service provided. These were to be further improved. People’s views were asked for and were acted upon to improve the service provided.