Archived: The Red House

Updated 13 April 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.

The inspection took place on 12 February 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. This expert by experience had cared for someone living with dementia.

In preparation for our visit we reviewed information that we held about the home. This included notifications (events which happened in the home that the provider is required to tell us about) and information that had been sent to us by other agencies including the local authority contracting and safeguarding teams. We also used 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 home, what the home does well and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with the manager, the area manager, the nurse, two care staff, the cook and the cleaner. We also spoke with five people living at the home and six relatives of people who lived at the home. We spent some time observing the care in communal areas.

We looked at a range of documents and written records including four people’s care files and two staff recruitment records. We also looked at information relating to the administration of medicines and the auditing and monitoring of care.

Updated 13 April 2018

The Red House is a nursing home for 23 older people some of who may be living with dementia The home is in the centre of Stamford and is set over two floors. There is a lift to the second floor. There were 22 people living at the home on the day of our inspection.

There was a new manager at the home. They had been working at the home since 1 December 2017.

At our last inspection we rated the home 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 home has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the home remained Good.

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 home supported this practice.

Staff were kind and caring and had developed good relationships with people. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff received ongoing training and support so that they knew how to care for people safely and kept up to date with changes in legislation and best practice. They were also supported with regular staff meetings so that they could discuss any improvements needed. The manager ensured that staff were safe to work with the people living at the home.

Risks to people had been identified and care was planned to keep people safe. Records accurately recorded the care that people needed and were kept up to date as people’s needs changed. Medicines were safely administered and people were supported to eat safely and maintain a healthy weight. People’s wishes for their end of their lives had been recorded and people were supported to have a dignified pain free death.

People were involved in planning their care and were encouraged to do as much as possible for themselves. Their likes and dislikes were recorded so that care could be tailored to their individual needs. People’s privacy and dignity were respected. Activities provided helped people to stay engaged with their lives and helped to orientate them to the time of year.

The manager was supportive and approachable. There were effective audits in place which ensured that the care provided was monitored and any concerns identified were corrected in a timely manner.