Acer House Care Home

Updated 28 November 2020

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

We received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service. The provider had an outbreak of Coronavirus. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 16 November 2020 and was announced.

Updated 28 November 2020

Acer House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Acer House Care Home was last inspected in May 2016 when the service was rated Good overall at that time.

Acer House is registered to provide care for up to 60 older men or women, they do not carry out nursing care. Acer House is a three-storey building which has accommodation on the ground floor for people with general care needs (Milton) and on the first floor for people with dementia (Ashcombe). There is an internal courtyard garden which is secure.

There was a registered manager for the service. The new registered manager had been in post for nearly three months. 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.

The staff training programme in subjects relevant to people's needs was in the process of being updated. This was to complete and update staff training in health and safety and care related subjects.

The quality checking system for the care and overall service at the home had been brought up to date and consistently used effectively. This meant the care and service was properly checked and monitored to ensure it was safe and suitable.

People had positive views of the home and the care they received. Examples of comments included, “You can do everything you want to do here. You’re free to go out; you could go to the shop next door if you wanted to” and “The staff are really lovely, they come in and check on you and they hold your hand and listen to you.”

Risks to the safety and wellbeing of people were minimised because staff had completed safeguarding adults training. Staff continued to know how to identify the different types of abuse. Risk assessments were up to date and these identified the areas where the safety of people may have been at risk. Accidents and incidents were monitored and actions taken when needed to keep people safe. Trends were also picked up to reduce the risk of reoccurrences. There were safe practices and procedures for the administration and storage of people's medicines in the home.

People told us they liked the food and we saw they were offered choices at each mealtime to help them select the meals they liked.

People at the home and the staff had built up caring and positive relationships. This was also evident with relatives and friends who spoke positively of the caring attitude of the staff.

Staff continued to understand the needs of the people they supported and knew how to care for them in a way that met their needs. The staff we saw had a caring and attentive manner towards the people they supported who lived at the home. Whenever possible, people were involved in making decisions about their care and support needs. People were offered discrete and sensitive assistance if they needed support to eat their meals or with intimate care.