This inspection was carried out on the 26 September 2016 and was unannounced. Lauren Court Residential Care Home is registered to provide personal care for up to 48 older people. The service consists of single room en-suite accommodation located over two floors. The service is located in the Blacon area of Chester, close to the local shops and other community facilities. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 36 people.
The service does not currently have a registered manager in place. 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. The service had a manager in place who has recently applied to the Care Quality Commission to become the registered manager’s.
We last inspected this service in April 2014 and we found that the registered provider met all the regulations we reviewed.
People said they were happy with the service that they received and that they felt safe. Staff had a good understanding of how to protect people from the risk of harm or abuse. The registered provider had clear policies and procedures in place for reporting any concerns they had about the safety and wellbeing of people they supported.
Individual risk assessments were completed to ensure people supported, relevant others and staff were protected from the risk of harm.
There were sufficient levels of suitably trained staff to support people and ensure they received care and support in a safe and timely way. When new staff were appointed robust recruitment checks were carried out to make sure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people.
The service was accessible, clean and safe and staff were able to describe their responsibilities for ensuring people were protected against any environmental hazards. Fire safety and all other relevant Health and Safety checks were appropriately completed by a competent person.
Medication was well managed at the service. People received their medication as prescribed and staff had completed competency training in the administration and management of medication. Medication administration records (MARs) were appropriately signed and coded for people’s prescribed medication.
Policies and procedures were in place to guide staff in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff had a good knowledge and understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and of their role and responsibility linked to this. Staff understood the key principles of the MCA 2005.
People were supported by staff who had received appropriate training and support. All staff received training to enable them to fulfil their roles which included essential subjects such as moving and handling, safeguarding people and medication training. Staff were also supported through supervisions
People told us that staff always treated them with kindness and respect. They told us that staff were mindful of their privacy and dignity and encouraged them to maintain their independence.
A thorough pre-admission assessment was completed to ensure the service could meet people's individual needs. People’s needs were assessed and planned for and staff had personalised information about how best to meet people’s needs. People’s wishes, preferences and beliefs were reflected in their care plans.
The registered providers complaints procedure was accessible to people and relevant others. Family members told us that their complaints were acted upon. Records we viewed confirmed this.
The registered provider maintained robust, effective quality assurance systems to ensure that all aspects of service provision were regularly reviewed and maintained to a good standard. We were notified as required about incidents and events which had occurred at the service.