Archived: Stonedale Lodge Care Home

Updated 20 April 2017

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This unannounced inspection took place from 14–16 March 2017. The inspection team consisted of three adult social care inspectors, a pharmacist inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. We looked at the notifications the CQC had received about the service and we contacted local commissioners of the service to obtain their views.

During the inspection we visited five of the six units (houses) that make up Stonedale Lodge Care Home. This included three units supporting people living with dementia. Some of the people living on the units had difficulty expressing themselves verbally. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We were able to speak with nine people in total who were living on the units in the home. We spoke with 10 visiting family members/visitors. During the inspection we also spoke with a health professional who visited the home to see us.

We spoke with members of the management team (registered manager, area manager, clinical services manager, care services manager and area training manager), 20 staff (including care staff, trained nurses, unit managers and ancillary staff (head chef, 'hostesses', housekeepers, activities co-ordinators and maintenance person). We also spoke with a visiting health professional to ascertain their views about the home.

We looked at the care records for 12 people who lived at the home, five staff personnel files, medicine charts and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service. We undertook general observations, looked around the home, including some people's bedrooms, bathrooms, the living areas and external grounds.

Updated 20 April 2017

Situated in the Croxteth area of Liverpool, Stonedale Lodge Care Home offers personal and nursing care for 180 people. There has been a recent change of legal entity and the provider is now registered as Bupa Care Homes Limited. The service is called Stonedale Lodge Care Home.

Accommodation is provided on six units, each with 30 beds. Dalton and Anderton units provide personal care for people living with dementia, Clifton unit provides nursing care for people living with dementia, Blundell and Townley provide general nursing care and Sherburne unit provides general personal care.

This unannounced inspection of Stonedale Lodge Care Home took place over three days from 14-16 March 2017. At the time of our inspection 142 people were living in the home.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

At the last inspection in February 2016 we found previous breaches of regulation had been met. Although improvements had been made we had not rated the service as ‘good’ at that inspection as we needed evidence of longer term consistency in respect of maintaining improvements within the service. At this inspection we found these improvements had been maintained and developed further.

People living at the home and relatives told us they felt staff delivered safe care.

The environment and equipment was subject to checks and service contracts to ensure the safety of people living at the home.

The staff we spoke with described how they would recognise abuse and the action they would take to ensure actual or potential harm was reported. An adult safeguarding policy and the local authority’s safeguarding procedure was available for staff to refer to.

Staff we spoke with told us they always asked for people's consent before providing care and we observed this during the visit.

Care plans provided information to inform staff about people's care needs and risks to people’s health and wellbeing had been assessed to ensure their safety.

People and relatives were included in planning care and involved in care reviews. This could be recorded in more detail to show their involvement.

People at the home were supported by the staff and external health care professionals to maintain

their health and wellbeing.

The home adhered to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). Applications to deprive people of their liberty under the Mental Capacity Act (2005) had been submitted to the local authority.

The staff in the home knew the people they were supporting and the care they needed. Staff approach was kind and supportive and people’s individual needs and preferences were respected by staff.

Staff files showed appropriate recruitment checks had been made so that staff employed were 'fit' to work with vulnerable people.

Staff received training in key areas and more ‘specific’ training to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to care for people safely. There was an induction programme with mentorship for new staff.

Staff told us they received a good level of support from the management team. This included supervision meetings and appraisals.

We observed there was enough staff to carry out care in a timely manner. We saw staff were attentive to the needs of people and no one appeared to wait for assistance.

Activities co-ordinators provided a varied programme of social activities in accordance with people’s needs and wishes. Staff were aware of the importance of providing stimulation for people with dementia to keep people engaged and motivated.

People told us they enjoyed the meals and the menus provided a good choice of well balanced meals. People’s nutritional needs were assessed and catered for. We observed lunch and this was a sociable occasion for people.

People and relatives were invited to give feedback about the home through meetings, surveys and daily discussions with the staff.

We observed relatives visiting during the inspection and people told us there were no restrictions on visiting encouraging relationships to be maintained.

A complaints’ procedure was available and people living at the home and relatives were aware of how to raise a concern/complaint

The manager was aware of their responsibility to notify us, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), of any notifiable incidents in the home.

The culture within the service was and open and transparent. Staff and people said the home was ‘well run’ and the registered manager was supportive and approachable.

There was a good management structure in the home with effective quality assurance processes and systems to monitor standards and to support future improvements within the service.