About the service Maypole Grove is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 27 older and younger people, some of who were living with dementia and Huntington’s disease. This service can support up to 30 people.
People were accommodated in one purpose-built building, separated into three units. The units were named Bearwood, Ladywood and Hollywood, after local areas. Each unit had its own communal areas including a kitchen with its own kitchenette, lounges and quiet areas as well as people’s own rooms.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe from preventable harm. Some family members and staff were concerned about reliance on agency staff, but we found staffing levels were sufficient. Care files were large and staff found them difficult to use effectively but staff were aware of people’s risks. Medicines were managed safely, some nursing staff needed competency checks. The home was clean.
Staff were not always sure who was subject to Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and what this meant for people. Staff received training to support them in their roles, but some staff raised concerns about their induction and training, Staff had not always been offered regular supervisions and had not had appraisals to gain oversight of what they needed to progress.
Since Maypole Grove opened three years ago there have been a number of different managers. A regional director had stepped in last year and a new manager was now in the process of registering as a manager with CQC. A clinical nurse lead had also recently been recruited. Most relatives and staff spoke highly of the new management team, who told us about a number of improvements that they are continuing to work on.
People were supported by caring staff. Although some relatives were concerned about the use of agency staff, they felt the established staff were very good. One person told us, “Staff are very kind and caring and offer good treatment.” We saw people being offered choices about what they did and ate and being treated with dignity and respect.
Staff were knowledgeable about how to communicate well with people. We saw good examples of this during our visit. Activities were planned for the month and peoples interests and likes had been considered. Some staff felt that more dementia friendly activities and more one to one activity would be beneficial.
Monitoring systems were in place to maintain oversight of safety, but issues had not always been responded to in a timely way. For example, fire doors were known to need repair, but this had not been done in a timely fashion, although the work had been scheduled for completion.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (7 November 2018)
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about high numbers of incidents between people living in Maypole Grove, concerns about staff conduct incidents and concerns about damage to fire doors. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, and well led sections of this full report.