Archived: Alderson House

Updated 12 July 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

The inspection was undertaken 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

Alderson House 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 looked at all the information we had received since the last inspection, including the notifications we had received (information about important events which the service is required to send us by law).

We used the information the provider sent us in the PIR. 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 also asked Healthwatch for their views. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people living at the service and three relatives about their experiences. We spoke with the regional manager, quality manager, registered and deputy manager, activity co-ordinator and five staff, one of whom was covering for the cook. 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 reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care and everyone’s medicine records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, supervisions and appraisals and looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies, procedures, checks and audits.

Updated 12 July 2019

About the service

Alderson House is a residential care home providing personal care for 25 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 32 people.

Alderson House provides support to people with sensory impairment, physical disabilities and people living with dementia.

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

People received safe care. Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place to help protect people from harm and abuse. Management of people’s medicine was robust. Staffing levels were monitored and there were enough skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Minor issues with infection control in the laundry were quickly addressed during the inspection. Staff followed infection control practices.

Staff received appropriate induction, training and support and applied learning effectively in line with best practice. This led to good outcomes for people and supported a good quality of life.

Where risks to people’s wellbeing had been found detailed person-centred care records were in place to inform the staff about the care people needed to receive. People’s care was reviewed and monitored as their needs changed.

People had their capacity assessed and 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.

Staff were caring and kind. People we spoke with and their relatives confirmed this. Staff provided comfort and support if people became anxious or upset. Information was provided to people in a format that met their needs in line with the Accessible Information Standards.

Staff supported people to meet their health and nutritional needs. People were supported and encouraged to maintain their independence. Staff worked with health care professionals to maintain people’s wellbeing.

People felt able to raise concerns. issues raised were investigated and this information was used to improve the service. There was a good programme of activities in place. Community links were promoted. Dignified end of life care was provided. Compliments about end of life care had been received.

The service was well-led. Continuous improvement, learning and innovation had been implemented. The registered and deputy managers supported the staff team and they all worked together. Quality checks and audits had been improved since the last inspection and they were undertaken to monitor the service provided. Action plans were created when shortfalls were found to make sure corrective action was taken. Data security was maintained.

People living at the service, their relatives and staff had the opportunity to provide feedback about the service.

Rating at last inspection and update

At the last inspection the service was rated requires improvement with two breaches of regulation, report published on 23 June 2018. Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.