Updated 18 May 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.
Service and service type:
Arden House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. CQC regulates the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The registered provider managed the service. This means they have equal, legal responsibility for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. For this reason we have referred to them as ‘the provider’ throughout the report.
Notice of inspection:
The inspection was unannounced.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks for some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications give information about important events the service is legally obliged to send us within required timescales. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection, we looked at the care records of three people who use the service and everyone’s medication records.
We looked at records about the management of the service. These included checks and audits, meeting minutes and health and safety documents. We reviewed policies and procedures including safeguarding, whistleblowing, complaints, mental capacity and medicines. We looked at information about recruitment, training, induction and supervision in staff files. We considered all this information to help us to make a judgement about the service.
During the inspection we spoke with five people who lived at the service. Some people were unable to share many of their experiences of living at Arden House because it was difficult for them to communicate these thoughts. We used observation to help us understand people’s experience.
We spoke with four members of staff and the provider during our inspection. After the inspection, we spoke with the relatives or friends of three people who lived at the service. After the inspection, we contacted seven people who represented organisations who worked with the service.