This inspection took place on 14 October 2015 and was unannounced.
Herald Lodge care home provides support to older people and to older people living with dementia. The home comprises of two floors, with people whose dementia has advanced, primarily living on the first floor. The service accommodates a maximum of 42 people. Forty one people were living at the home at the time of our visit.
The home has a registered manager. 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 2014 about how the service is run.
The home had sufficient staffing levels. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to work well with people who lived at the home. This was due to an effective induction and ongoing staff training.
Staff understood safeguarding policies and procedures, and followed people’s individual risk assessments to ensure they minimised any identified risks to people’s health and social care. Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work at Herald Lodge to ensure their suitability to work with people in the home.
Medicines were managed well to ensure people received their prescribed medicines at the right time. Systems were in place to ensure medicines were ordered on time and stored safely in the home.
Staff respected and acted upon people’s decisions. Where people did not have capacity to make informed decisions, ‘best interest’ decisions were taken on the person’s behalf. This meant the service was adhering to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
The provider was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and had followed the advice of the local authority DoLS team. The provider had referred some people to the local authority for an assessment when they thought the person’s freedom was restricted.
People were provided with sufficient to eat and drink and people’s individual nutrition needs were well supported. People enjoyed the food provided. Where changes in people’s health were identified, they were referred promptly to other healthcare professionals.
People and visitors to the home were positive about the care provided by staff. During our visit we observed staff being caring to people, and supported people’s privacy and dignity.
Not all care plans were centred on the person. Activities were provided, however they were not always sufficiently linked to people’s individual needs or wants, or supported people whose dementia was more advanced.
People who lived at Herald Lodge, their relatives, and staff, felt able to speak with management and share their views about the service. Complaints were responded to appropriately.
The new manager had worked hard to improve the culture of the home. They and their leadership team had the confidence and support of staff to drive improvements in the home.