Archived: Marsh House

Marsh House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 28 older people. The home is in a residential area in Ulverston town centre. It is run by Cumbria County Council. The home is on two floors with most of the bedrooms upstairs and three sitting rooms with dining areas on the ground floor. Marsh House provides permanent accommodation for people and short-term respite care.

At the time of our inspection Marsh House was due to close as part of the restructure of residential care services in Furness. There were 14 people living in the home when we carried out our inspection.

There was a registered manager employed in the home. 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.

Our last comprehensive inspection of this home was carried out 29 January and 2 February 2016. At that inspection we found breaches of legal requirements. We found that people were not always safe because risks were not always managed effectively, there were times when there were not enough staff working in the home and the systems for assessing the safety and quality of the service had not been robust.

After the comprehensive inspection the registered provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breaches. At our inspection in April 2017 we looked at the actions the provider had taken and found that legal requirements had been met.

People were safe living in the home and there were enough staff to provide the support they needed. The staff spent time with people and treated them in a kind and caring way.

Hazards to people’s safety had been identified and action taken to reduce and manage risks. The staff on duty were aware of how to support people to maintain their safety.

People enjoyed the meals provided and were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain their health.

Visitors were made welcome in the home and people were able to maintain relationships that were important to them.

People were provided with a choice of activities in the home and local community that they enjoyed.

The staff knew people well and were trained and competent to carry out their duties.

People were supported to maintain their independence and had been included in planning and agreeing to the support they received.

The principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were followed and people’s rights were protected. 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.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed by their doctors. They were supported to access appropriate health care services to support them to maintain good health.

The registered provider had a procedure for receiving and managing complaints about the home. People knew how they could raise concerns about the service.

Safe systems were used when new staff were employed to check they were suitable to work in the home.

The home was well managed. People knew the registered manager and found her approachable and easy to talk to. The registered manager asked people for their views of the service and took action in response to their comments.

As part of our regulatory activity we found that the provider for the service was not registered correctly. We discussed this with Cumbria County Council and they submitted an application to correct their registration details. We carried out an assessment of Marsh House in October 2015 as part of the county council’s registration application. We judged that the service was likely to be safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Marsh House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 28 older people. The home is in a residential area in Ulverston town centre. It is run by Cumbria County Council.

The home is on two floors with most bedrooms upstairs and three sitting rooms with dining areas on the ground floor. Marsh House provides permanent accommodation for people and also short term respite care.

There was a registered manager employed at the home. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Everyone we spoke with told us this was a good service. People said they felt safe in the home and told us that the staff were “kind”, “caring” and “helpful”. They told us that they trusted the staff who supported them and, if they had any concerns, would be confident to speak to a staff member.

People who visited the home regularly told us that they had never seen or heard anything that caused them concern about the safety of people who lived there. A visiting health care professional said, “This is a nice home, it’s a good service, people are well looked after”.

We found that staff had not followed guidance about protecting a person from the risk of choking and equipment had not always been used safely. People were not safe because risks had not always been identified and managed. This was a breach of regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We saw that there were times when there were not enough staff to provide people’s support or to support people in the event of an emergency. This was a breach of regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The systems used to assess the service had not identified the issues we found at the inspection. They had not been effective in ensuring the quality and safety of the service provided to people. This was a breach of regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We discussed our concerns with the registered manager of the home and they took immediate action to review the risk assessments and to increase the number of staff employed in the home during the night.

People were included in decisions about their care and maintained their independence and control over their lives.

People enjoyed the meals provided in the home and could have snacks and drinks as they wanted.

Visitors were made welcome in the home and people were able to see their friends and families as they wished.

Medicines were handled safely and the staff in the home worked well with local health care services to ensure people maintained good health.

People knew how they could complain about the service they received.

The registered manager was knowledgeable about her responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People agreed to the support they received their rights were protected.

We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to identifying and managing risks to people’s safety, staffing levels and ensuring effective processes were used to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.