Allambie House

Updated 28 February 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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.

Allambie House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people, two relatives, five care staff, the maintenance person, the activities co-ordinator, the registered manager, two occupational therapy students, the chef and the provider. We reviewed a range of care records including four people’s care plans, and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff recruitment files, training records, accidents and incident records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service. This included policies and procedures and quality monitoring records.

Updated 28 February 2020

About the service

Allambie House is a residential care home providing personal care to 30 people aged 65 and over. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 22 people. The home is in an adapted building with accommodation over multiple split-level floors. These are accessible by stairs, stair chair lifts and a passenger lift.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Quality monitoring systems were in place to identify and address any areas needing improvement. We found some records related to people’s care were not sufficiently clear to confirm care provided, however this had not resulted in a negative impact on people.

There was an open culture within the home led by the registered manager and provider. People felt their needs were met and the service was managed well.

People said they felt safe with the staff that supported them. Staff had a good understanding of how to protect people from harm. They recognised the different types of abuse and knew to report any concerns to their line manager. The provider’s had a recruitment policy that required a number of checks to be completed before staff were employed to ensure staff were safe and suitable to work with people.

There were enough staff on duty to keep people safe and meet their needs. Staff completed ongoing training to update their skills and knowledge and this included medicine management training. People said they received the medicines they were prescribed at the times they expected.

Risks associated with people’s care were assessed and detailed within individualised care plans for staff to follow. Staff followed safe practice to reduce the risk of the spread of infections. People had access to a doctor when needed, this was arranged by staff as required. People had access to visiting opticians, dentists and district nurses as required to support their care needs so they would remain well.

People had access to a range of social activities and some outside visits organised by an activity co-ordinator. People were offered a choice of meals each day and any specialist or cultural needs were provided for. Where people needed support with meals this was provided.

People’s mental health was assessed to ensure any support they may require was identified. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; The policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The provider had a system in place for responding to complaints. People knew who to contact if they had any concerns.

People told us that staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect. All the interactions we observed were respectful. People were supported to maintain their independence and arrangements were in place to support people’s religious and cultural needs.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 9 March 2019). There had been one breach in the regulations relating to the safe care and treatment of people.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.