Archived: Goyt Valley House Care Home

Goyt Valley House Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to people aged 65 and over. At the time of the inspection, there were 28 people living there. The service can support up to 30 people in the three-storey purpose-built building in the New Mills area of High Peak, Derbyshire.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The service did not always support people to follow their interests. People were not always encouraged to take part in social activities relevant to their interests or to be active members of the community.

The service did not have a registered manager. The previous registered manager had left the service in November 2018 and efforts to recruit a replacement had not been successful.

There were enough staff to keep people safe and meet their physical needs. However, feedback we received from people and staff, and our observations during the inspection showed that staff were busy, task orientated and did not have time to provide companionship to people.

Where accidents and incidents had happened, there was not a clear process to record or investigate these.

Risk assessments were in place for people and staff demonstrated they were aware of risks to people’s safety and how to mitigate these. However, some risk assessments in people’s care plans were out of date.

Care and support did not always reflect current evidence-based guidance and best practice. Recognised tools were used to assess people’s needs, but they were not always reviewed regularly or when people’s needs changed.

People received their medicines as prescribed. But staff responsible for medicine administration had not always had their competency formally assessed.

Staff told us they did not feel they were given the appropriate training to meet people’s needs. Staff did not always receive supervisions or appraisals. The management team had identified that training was required, and more training had been scheduled.

People were not always encouraged to maintain and develop their independence and their social needs were not always understood. People did not regularly have access to the wider community.

People told us they felt confident to express their views and were involved in decisions about their care. Care plans were person-centred and included people’s personal preferences.

People were empowered to express their wishes for how they would like to be cared before up to and at the end of their lives.

People told us that apart from the lack of activities, they were happy at Goyt Valley House Care Home.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service managed the control and prevention of infection well. The home was clean and free from malodours throughout.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published February 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care and good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Goyt Valley House is a residential care home for up to 30 older people. The service is situated in the village of New Mills in Derbyshire. At the time of our inspection, 28 people were living at the service. The service provides care and support for people, with a range of medical and age related conditions, including mobility issues, diabetes and dementia.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

People’s medicines were managed safely. There were procedures in place to ensure medicines were safely stored, administered and disposed of.

The provider had recruitment procedures in place and employed new staff once appropriate checks had been completed. The provider had a system of ensuring new staff participated in an induction which included a period of shadowing an experienced staff member. New staff completed The Care Certificate as part of their induction. There were enough staff available to support and respond to people’s needs in a timely manner.

People’s care plans and records were updated and provided staff with the information needed to meet people’s needs. People and their relatives were happy with the care and support provided and everyone felt their individual needs were being met.

Staff and members of the management team were able to explain to us how they maintained people’s safety and protected their rights. Training was provided and included the Mental Capacity Act (2005), Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and safeguarding.

Staff knew people well and were aware of the importance of treating them with dignity and respect. Staff were kind, caring and compassionate; people’s self-esteem was promoted and staff supported and encouraged them to remain as independent as possible.

People’s nutritional needs were met; special dietary needs were catered for. Staff understood people’s health needs; people were supported to access relevant health care professionals and any recommendations were followed.

Information regarding how to make a complaint was available; people knew how to raise concerns and complaints. Information was on display to signpost people to the relevant agencies should it be necessary to raise a concern or complaint. A number of audits were carried out to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

Staff supervision and training was kept up-to-date. Meetings were held with people to give them the opportunity to voice their thoughts about the services they received. The registered manager and staff understood their role and responsibilities.

People's care records were personalised and showed that their written consent was properly obtained before they received any care at the home. Where people's assessed needs identified any risks to their health and welfare, we found their written care plans showed what action staff needed to take to reduce these.

Procedures were in place for the management of medication. Risk assessments had been undertaken and guidance was available to staff.

We found that people received care from adequate levels of skilled and knowledgeable staff. We saw that staff spoke to people with consideration and respect.

The provider assessed and monitored the quality of service provided. This was done through audits and seeking people's views. People told us that staff were very approachable.

We found that staff were recruited using appropriate procedures and that they were well trained. We also found that they were aware of how to protect people from the risk of abuse and how to report any concerns.

We saw that people were involved in daily decisions about their care, although their files did not always evidence this. We also saw that people's dignity and privacy was respected at the home.

We looked at care files and saw that areas of risk, for example regarding people's health conditions were not assessed and that guidance for staff was not always detailed and personalised. The manager told us that new systems were being introduced to address this. We also found that consent was not always being obtained for people's care.

We found that systems were in place to monitor the quality of service that was provided at Goyt Valley House and that people's views were sought and responded to regarding quality.