Devonshire House and Lodge

Updated 1 July 2024

Date of assessment: 18 June to 5 July 2024. The Commission assessed that a responsive Assessment was needed because of incidents that had taken place, and concerns that had been raised at the service, over the previous 12 months. We assessed 7 Quality Statements from the Key Questions of Safe, Caring, and Well Led. The scores for these areas have been combined with scores based on the key question ratings from the last inspection when the service was rated good. As the assessment of the quality statements covered in this assessment indicated areas of good practice, our overall rating remains good. Devonshire House and Lodge provides care and support to older people in a care home setting where people require continuous support and monitoring. Most people are assessed as requiring nursing care and some people have significant dementia care needs. This care home was purpose built to provide a care home setting, is divided into 4 units, and is registered to provide a service for up to 77 people at any one time. We visited the service in the Woolwell area of north Plymouth, on 18 and 24 June 2024. On our first visit there were 57 people receiving a service, and most were receiving assessed nursing care.

Updated 1 July 2024

People and relatives said they felt people were safe with staff, and the staff practice we saw showed they knew people well. People’s individual risks were identified, and the necessary risk assessment reviews were carried out to keep people safe. We found the service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and if needed, appropriate legal authorisations were requested to appropriately restrict a person’s freedom to leave the service, in order to keep the person safe. The provider had ensured there were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet the needs of the people at the service at the time we carried out this assessment. However, some relatives, staff and professionals had said over the past few months that there were not enough staff. The service had recently completed recruiting additional staff to provide an increased number of staff present in the service to provide sufficient support to meet peoples’ needs throughout the day. Staff were well trained and competent in their jobs. There were safe and effective recruitment and selection processes in place. People said staff were kind, compassionate and caring. Staff treated people with dignity and respect when helping them with daily living tasks. People were supported to have choice and control over their own care and to make decisions about their care, treatment, and wellbeing. People’s care, treatment and support promoted equality, removed barriers or delays, and protected their rights.