Archived: Mitchell House

This inspection was carried out to ensure that the service had made the necessary improvements to achieve compliance with the regulations. On the day of our inspection there were 44 people living in the home.

We found that care planning systems had been reviewed, new documentation had been implemented and training for care staff in record keeping had been planned. This meant that people's needs were fully assessed and planned for.

We saw that the service had used "best Interests" assessments to fully evidence why and how decisions had been made. This was done to protect and safeguard the people living in the home. We found that work had been undertaken to address cleanliness and infection control issues and staffing levels had been reviewed and increased. This meant that people were cared for in a safer environment.

We also found that the information gathered by the home to review the quality of its service had been used more effectively.

We spoke with ten people who were living in the home, 11 staff and the manager. Comments from relatives about the home included; "We are impressed with the care given to our Mother" and "People are cared for with dignity, respect and understanding but they (the care workers) are too busy to be able to spend that little bit extra time needed for TLC"

We found shortfalls in the way people's care was assessed, monitored and delivered. People's needs were not fully assessed, and care plans contained omissions or conflicting information. This placed people at risk of unsafe care.

There were sufficient staff on duty to meet people's needs most of the time but we did observe times when staff were under pressure. This meant that people's individual needs were not always fully met.

We also found shortfalls in the homes systems for meeting people's nutritional needs, protecting vulnerable adults from abuse and the prevention and control of infection. The home's quality assurance systems were not being used effectively which meant they had not identified for themselves the issues that we found during this inspection.

We were unable to speak with most people who lived at the home because of their physical and mental frailty. We therefore also gathered evidence of people's experiences by looking at relevant records and observing what happened in the home during our visit. The people we spoke with all confirmed that they were happy in the home and commented positively about the staff that cared for them.

We found that people's care needs had been assessed and care plans put in place so that staff knew how to support people. We spoke with visiting health professionals who all confirmed that they were happy with the way care was provided and that staff

had a good understanding of people's needs and how to meet them.

Staff had been appropriately recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. They had also been given training in safeguarding people from abuse.

We found that some records were not being fully completed and therefore were not providing the information required to help ensure people did not become dehydrated or under nourished.