Background to this inspection
Updated
27 March 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 completed by one inspector.
Service and service type:
Victoria House is a care home registered to accommodate up to 22 people who need support with personal care.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The provider had appointed a manager in November 2018 who was in the process of registering with CQC. Once registered this will mean 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:
We did not give notice of our inspection.
What we did:
Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports, action plans and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also considered information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection, we gathered information from:
• 14 people who used the service
• Six relatives or friends of people who used the service
• Two health or social care professionals who had regular contact with the service
• Five people’s care records
• Records of accidents, incidents and complaints
• Audits and quality assurance reports
• The manager and deputy manager
• The provider nominated individual
• Seven members of care staff
• One housekeeper, a maintenance staff member and a chef
Updated
27 March 2019
About the service:
Victoria House is a residential 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. Victoria House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people aged 65 and over with a range of physical and cognitive support needs. At the time of the inspection 17 people were living at the home.
People’s experience of using this service:
¿ People were happy living at Victoria House. They told us their needs were met in a personalised way by staff who were competent, kind and caring.
¿ Environmental risk assessments had been completed however, these did not cover all risks posed by the environment. Risks in respect of the stairs or the kitchen had not been assessed.
¿ With the exception of risk relating to people receiving blood thinning medicine individual risks had been assessed and were managed appropriately.
¿ Medicines were generally managed safely and, where we identified areas for improvement the manager took immediate action. People received the personal care they required. People were involved in the development of their care plans which were reviewed regularly. Staff worked with local health and social care professionals to ensure health care needs were known and met.
¿ People's rights and freedoms were upheld. People were empowered to make all their own choices and decisions.
¿ There were sufficient numbers of staff who were well trained, felt listened to and worked well together. The manager continually considered ways to improve the service for the benefit people living there. Where we identified areas for improvement they acted immediately.
The service met the characteristics of Good overall. More information is in the full report.
Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement. (Report published 20 March 2018). The overall rating has improved.
Why we inspected: This was a scheduled/planned inspection based on the service’s previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue our routine monitoring of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk