Greenacres Care Home

Updated 29 June 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Greenacres Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We checked the information that we held about the service. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also gathered feedback about the service from the local authority and used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who lived at the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, senior care worker, care workers, the activities coordinator and the chef. 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 also spoke with two health and social care professionals who were visiting people at the home on the day of our inspection.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 29 June 2019

About the service

Greenacres Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 39 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service is registered to support up to 41 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The home provided people with a safe, well-maintained and clean environment to live in. People were protected from the risk of harm and abuse and the home ensured that only suitable staff were employed to work at the home. People were supported to take their medicines safely and as prescribed.

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. People’s needs were appropriately assessed and met by staff who had the required skills, training and support.

People were well-supported with their nutrition and hydration needs and the feedback about the food at the home was positive. One relative said, “The food is good and they know what [Relative] likes. [Relative] has put on weight since coming here and looks much better.” The atmosphere and appearance of the home was homely and people looked comfortable and relaxed in their surroundings.

All the people and relatives we spoke with gave us positive feedback about the staff at the home. One person told us, “The staff are like a family to me.” Staff knew the people they were supporting well and we observed many warm, friendly and caring interactions between staff and the people living at the home throughout our inspection.

The care plans we looked at were informative, regularly reviewed and reflected the needs of the people supported by the service. This included considering and meeting any communication, spiritual and cultural needs. The home had not received any formal complaints since our last inspection but people told us they would feel comfortable raising concerns if necessary and we saw information about making a complaint was accessible.

There was a good range of activities on offer to people living at the home, both on a group and individual basis. People were also supported to keep up with their religious preferences.

There was a kind and caring culture amongst staff at the home, which was led by an experienced registered manager. All the people and relatives we spoke with were familiar with the registered manager; they felt they could approach them with any concerns and any issues would be addressed.

There were various systems in place to gather people’s feedback about the quality of service being provided. All of which we reviewed was positive. One person wrote, ‘I think it’s smashing and I enjoy being here.’ Staff at the home engaged well with other health and social care professionals to ensure people’s health and wellbeing was maintained.

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 7 December 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.