Smalley Hall Care Home

Updated 8 June 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 visit took place on the 25 April 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection visit 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.

On this occasion we did not ask the provider to send us a provider information return (PIR). 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. However, we offered the provider the opportunity to share information they felt relevant with us.

We used a range of different methods to help us understand people’s experiences. People who lived at the home had varying levels of communication. We spoke with eight people and also observed the interaction between people and the staff who supported them in communal areas throughout the inspection visit. We also spoke with three people’s relative to gain their feedback.

We spoke with the registered manager, the area manager, the deputy manager, the activity staff member and two care staff. We reviewed care plans for four people to check that they were accurate and up to date. We also looked at the systems the provider had in place to ensure the quality of the service was continuously monitored and reviewed to drive improvement. We reviewed audits and quality checks for medicines management, accidents and incidents, meeting minutes and health and safety checks.

Updated 8 June 2018

The inspection took place on 25 April 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection of this service for the provider, Ashmere Derbyshire Limited.

Smalley Hall Care Home is a residential care home for 26 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. It 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. At the time of the inspection there were 18 people using the service.

There was a registered manager 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.

People felt safe living with the home and had developed respectful relationships with the staff who were kind and caring in their approach. Risks were identified and plans were in place to mitigate these. Staff recognised people’s rights to take responsible risks and supported people’s decisions.

There were enough staff to support people and staff were recruited to ensure that they were safe to work with people. People received the right medicines at the right time and medicines were handled and managed safely. Staff maintained safe infection control procedures and lessons were learnt when mistakes happened.

People’s privacy and dignity were respected and they were supported to be as independent as possible. People were supported to maintain relationships with people that were important to them and visitors were welcomed at the home. People took part in activities that interested them in the home and when going out.

People’s care was reviewed to ensure that it reflected how they wanted to be supported. People could raise any concerns or complaints; people were confident their concerns were acted on as the staff and registered manager were approachable listened to what they wanted to say.

Staff were provided with opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge to provide care for people and they knew people well. People had a choice of what to eat and drink and were happy with the choices available. People made everyday decisions about their care and staff helped them to understand the information they needed to make. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and processes in place for people to express their views and opinions about the service provided. The registered manager reviewed how the service was managed to raise standards and to drive improvement within the home. They understood the requirements of their registration with us and kept us informed us important events that happened at the service.