Eridge House Rest Home is a residential home providing care for older people in Bexhill-on-Sea. People living at Eridge House required varying levels of care and support. Many were highly independent and just required some assistance with washing and dressing and others required assistance with all care needs.
Eridge House provides local authority and privately funded long and short term (respite) periods of care.
The service is registered to provide care for up to 43 people. At the time of the inspection there were 36 people living at the service.
This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 22 and 23 June 2015.
Everyone we spoke with during the inspection was able to tell us about their thoughts and feelings about living at Eridge House, what they enjoyed and how they chose to spend their time.
Eridge House had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.
Care plans had been written and reviewed regularly by the manager. However, changes to care plans were not clear, or whether people had been involved in changes to the way their care was provided.
The provider could not demonstrate that people had received all medicines and topical cream applications in accordance with prescriptions by their GPs. A number of inconsistencies were seen in medicine documentation, including temperature checks and medicine administration records (MAR) charts.
Evacuation information for night time was not clear in the fire documentation.
Quality assurance checks were completed regularly by the manager and provider to ensure that the service provided good care and continued to improve. However some areas of auditing including medicines and care records needed to be improved.
Activities were provided regularly for people when they wished to access them with regular organised activities and people told us they accessed these when they wanted to. Many people spent their time going out independently and continued hobbies and activities they had prior to moving in to the service. A number of people were seen to go out independently or with visitors, and those who chose to stay in their rooms told us this was their choice.
People’s weights were reviewed when needed, with referrals made to outside agencies when people had poor nutrition or had lost weight. People who required any help or assistance at meal times had this provided in a dignified manner.
People living in the service told us they felt safe at Eridge House and staff felt supported working at the service. The manager was a visual presence at the service on a daily basis and had an ‘open door’ policy for staff, people living in the service and visitors.
Staff and people living at Eridge House felt staffing levels were appropriate. Staffing levels had been regularly reviewed and extra staff provided when needed. Staff told us that they had a clear chain of management to report any concerns to as "the door was always open” and it was a positive open working environment. Staff told us the manager or owner was always around and available if they had any concerns.
A training schedule was in place. With a different training scheduled each month, which would be attended by all available staff. Staff had received appropriate training and were able to demonstrate a good knowledge around recognising and reporting safeguarding concerns. Staff told us that if they identified any new training which they felt would improve their knowledge to meet people’s individual needs and his was supported and encouraged by the registered manager.
Environmental and individual risk assessments had been completed. There was an organisational recruitment policy and procedure to follow when recruiting new staff. This included an in house induction for new staff.
Equipment maintenance and servicing had taken place. With environmental and maintenance audits completed to ensure the building and equipment were maintained appropriately.
Staff felt supported by the manager and work colleagues .There was a programme for supervision and appraisals to take place, this included further ‘ad hoc’ meetings when required and policies and procedures were in place to support staff.
Staff involved people in daily decisions and gained consent from people before providing any care or assistance. Staff demonstrated an awareness around mental capacity, choice and restraint. The manager told us that they were aware how to make an application regarding Deprivations of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) but had not needed to do this.
People we spoke with told us the meals were lovely and without exception we received positive feedback around food and drink provided. Meals seen were well presented, with three courses at lunch time. People had a choice of meal with alternatives available when people changed their minds.
People were seen to spend their time how they wished. During the inspection we saw many examples of positive communication and interaction between staff and people. Staff responded politely and positively when they sat with people for a chat or popped into their rooms. Staff showed a clear fondness for people and cared about their care and welfare. If people appeared upset or anxious staff responded in a calm manner. People knew staff and it was apparent in their body language they felt comfortable and trusted staff to look after them.
Staff told us they were part of a team, and felt that they all shared the same values to ensure people received the best care. Staff spoke positively about the manager, the culture within the service and told us they enjoyed being part of the team.
There were no current complaints investigations in progress. Past complaints had been dealt with following the organisations complaints procedure. People told us they knew how to raise concerns if they needed to.
We found some breaches of Regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what actions we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.