Clare Lodge Care Home

Updated 23 May 2018

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.

This inspection took place on 16 April 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Before our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications that had been submitted. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us. We also reviewed the provider information return (PIR) submitted to us 19 September 2017. This is information that the provider is required to send to us, which gives us some key information about the service and tells us what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we observed staff support people who used the service, we spoke with four people who used the service, two staff members, representatives of the senior management team and the registered manager. We spoke with relatives of three people who used the service to obtain their feedback on how people were supported to live their lives.

We received feedback from representatives of the local authority health and community services. We also 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 electronic care records relating to three people who used the service and other documents central to people's health and well-being. These included staff training records, medication records and quality audits.

Updated 23 May 2018

The inspection took place on 16 April 2018 and was unannounced.

Clare Lodge Care Home 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. Clare Lodge Care Home accommodates up to 24 older people some of who may live with dementia. The home is arranged over four floors and is purpose built. On the day of this inspection there were 21 people living at the home.

The service had a registered manager who was also registered with CQC to manage another Grange Care Services learning disability service locally. 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 November 2015 we rated the service as good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People felt safe living at Clare Lodge Care Home. Staff were knowledgeable about how to safeguard people from avoidable harm. Potential risks to people's health, well-being or safety had been assessed to help keep people safe. Staff helped people to move safely using appropriate moving and handling techniques. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs in a timely manner. Safe and effective recruitment practices were followed to help make sure that all staff were of good character and suitable for the roles they performed. There were suitable arrangements for the safe storage, management and disposal of medicines and people were supported to take their medicines by trained staff. Some improvement was identified in medicine record keeping. Regular fire and health and safety checks were completed to help maintain safety.

There were systems in place to help promote infection control.

People 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 received training to support them to be able to care for people safely. People were provided with a good choice of food and that they were supported to maintain a healthy diet. People’s day to day health needs were met in a timely way. The environment was appropriate to meet people’s needs.

People and their relatives were happy with the staff that provided the care. Staff took prompt action to address people’s discomfort and to help meet people’s individual choices and wishes. Staff respected people's dignity, promoted their dignity and privacy and made sure that they supported them in the way they wished whilst encouraging them to remain as independent as possible. The environment throughout the home was warm and welcoming. Information was available and accessible to guide people and their relatives about how to access to external advocacy support if required. Relatives and friends of people who used the service were encouraged to visit at any time.

Staff were knowledgeable about people's preferred routines, likes and dislikes, backgrounds and personal circumstances and used this to good effect in providing them with personalised care and support that met their individual needs. The service was managed in a way that responded to people’s changing needs. Regular meetings were held for people who used the service and their relatives to share their opinions about the service and facilities provided at Clare Lodge Care Home. A dedicated activity co-ordinator was employed to manage opportunities for engagement for people who used the service and a variety of support had been provided to respond to people’s individual likes and wishes. Concerns and complaints raised by people who used the service or their relatives were appropriately investigated and resolved.

People knew the registered manager by name and felt that they were approachable with any problems. Staff told us that the management team was approachable and that they could talk to them at any time. Relatives and staff told us that they would recommend Clare Lodge Care Home to anyone looking for residential care. There were a range of checks undertaken routinely to help ensure that the service was safe. Satisfaction surveys were distributed annually to people who used the service, their friends and relatives, staff members and health professionals to gather feedback about how the service performed.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.