The Cedars

Updated 19 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 was a comprehensive inspection and took place on the 10 December 2018. It was an unannounced inspection and undertaken by two inspectors.

We looked at information held about the service. This included notifications that we had received from the provider about events that had happened at the service. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. We also gathered information about the service from other sources. We contacted the commissioners of the service; commissioners are people who fund placements and packages of care and have responsibility to monitor the quality of service provided. We contacted Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent; Healthwatch helps people speak up about health and social care services in the Stoke-on-Trent area.

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to the inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about what the service does well and what improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, locality manager and two care staff. We spoke to one person who used the service and one person who was visiting. We 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 looked at one person’s care records and medication administration record, two staff recruitment files, training records, staff rotas and quality monitoring audits. We did this to check the standards of care were being met.

Updated 19 January 2019

The Cedars is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to six people. People who use the service may have a learning disability or mental health needs. At the time of the inspection, six people were living in the home but not everyone using The Cedars received a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 last inspection we rated the service good with requires improvement in well-led. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good in the previous four areas safe, caring, effective and responsive. Improvements had also been made so that the rating of well-led was improved to good. 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.

At this inspection we found that people were safeguarded from abuse. Risks to people were managed and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Medicines were safely managed and people received them as prescribed. Lessons were learned when things had gone wrong. People were protected from the risk of possible infection.

People’s needs and choices were assessed. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet. People were supported to have access to health services and receive ongoing healthcare support.

People were treated with kindness and respect. Their privacy was respected and their independence promoted.

People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs. People’s concerns and complaints were listened and responded to. No one was receiving end of life care; however, this had been considered where necessary.

Quality assurance systems were in place and operated effectively and the registered manager knew people well and was approachable. Feedback about the service was encouraged.

The rating was displayed as required.

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.