Background to this inspection
Updated
26 August 2015
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.
The inspection took place on 17 June 2015 and was unannounced.
The inspection team consisted of an inspector, a specialist advisor, who was a nurse 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 service.
Before our inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the home, which included notifications they had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We looked at the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also contacted the commissioners of the service to obtain their views about the care provided in the home.
We spoke with seven people who used the service and one visitor. We also spoke with three care workers, the manager and the provider’s representative. We looked at some information in documents, which included ten care files, three staff files and relevant management files.
Some people were not able to express their views due to their specific needs, so we used a 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.
Updated
26 August 2015
This inspection took place on 17 June 2015 and was unannounced. Albemarle Court nursing Home provides accommodation for up to 31 people who have nursing or dementia care needs. There were 26 people living in the home at the time of our inspection.
There was a registered manager in post who was present on the day of our visit. 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.
At our previous inspection in April 2014 the provider was not meeting all expectations. We asked the provider to take action to make improvements to the areas of recording information in care plans to ensure they were updated to reflect people needs. We also asked them to improve their systems to identify, assess and manage risk to people’s health and welfare. The provider sent us an action plan in which the provider told us the actions they had taken to meet the relevant legal requirements. At this inspection we found improvements had been made in all of these areas.
People living in the home told us they felt safe. Staff had received training to help support them to keep people safe from abuse. They managed incidents, accidents and safeguarding as per their policies and procedures. Staff used appropriate moving and handling techniques to ensure people were kept safe. We found sufficient number of staff on duty. People received their medicines as prescribed and in a safe way.
People received effective care from staff who had acquired relevant skills to ensure their knowledge and understanding was relevant to their role. They asked people’s permission before providing care and if relevant put best practice in place to ensure people who lacked capacity were fully supported.
People received support to eat and drink and maintain a balanced diet. They were referred to relevant health care professionals if and when their needs changed.
People received care from kind and compassionate staff that treated them with dignity and respect. Staff supported people to form positive relationships with their family and friends. Arrangements were in place to make sure people were involved with making decisions and planning their care.
People needs were assessed to ensure staff responded to their needs. People were encouraged to participate in meaningful activities that were relevant to their hobbies and interests. People were confident they could raise any concerns or complaints and the provider would take action if and when required.
People were encouraged to be involved with the running of the home and give their views on how the home was run. There was an open, transparent culture that involved people and provided information on how the home was run. Although people were unsure who was in charge they felt confident to report to the office if they had and concerns. Staff gave positive comments of the leadership of the home and felt supported by management.
Systems were in place to monitor, measure the quality of the service and delivery of care.