21 February 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Alexandra House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 40 older people, including people who may live with dementia or a dementia related condition. At the time of our inspection there were 40 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
At our last inspection the provider had failed to ensure robust systems were in place to ensure people received safe care and treatment, including management of their medicines.
At this inspection improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of legal requirements.
There was a welcoming, cheerful and friendly atmosphere at the service. A relative told us, “I’m so happy [Name] is here. It is free and easy here, people are well- presented, own choice how they dress, I value that. Staff do encourage choice and they sit and chat with people” and “Staff are lovely.” Staff spoke positively about working at the home and the people they cared for. They said communication was effective to ensure they were kept up-to-date about any changes in people’s care and support needs.
People's diversity as unique individuals with their own needs was respected by staff. The staff team knew people well and provided support discreetly and with compassion. People and relatives were positive about the caring nature of staff and had good relationships with them. They trusted the staff who supported them. People said they felt safe with staff support. A person commented, “I feel safe here. It’s friendly and staff are around.”
There were enough staff to support people safely and effectively. A relative commented, “There are plenty of staff. They are very active with the people, walking round with them.” Staff had received safeguarding training and were clear on how and when to raise their concerns. Where appropriate, actions were taken to keep people safe.
Staff followed effective processes to assess and provide the support people needed to take their medicines safely. Staff contacted health professionals when people’s health needs changed. Staff followed good infection control practices and the home was clean and well maintained. A person commented, “The place is immaculate and clean.”
There were systems to assess the quality of the service, which were closely monitored. Improvements were made as a result of analysis of any accidents, incidents and feedback to ensure people received safe and person-centred care.
Processes were in place to manage and respond to complaints and concerns. A relative told us, "You can ask them [staff] anything, they listen to you” and “If you have any complaints you can tell staff." People, relatives and staff gave us positive feedback and told us they had opportunity to comment on the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 7 April 2022) and there was a breach of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 3 February 2022. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.
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 changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Alexandra 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.