Archived: Crowmoor House

Updated 19 March 2016

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 inspection took place on 9 February 2016 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and one 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 the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Before our inspection we reviewed information held about the service. We looked at our own system to see if we had received any concerns or compliments about the home. We analysed information on statutory notifications we had received from the provider. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We spoke with the local authority and Healthwatch for their views about the home. We used this information to help us plan our inspection of the home.

During the inspection we spoke with 16 people who lived at the home. We spoke with eight care staff, four support staff and the registered manager. We spoke with one district nurse and one community healthcare assistant. We viewed three records which related to consent, people’s medicines, assessment of risk and people’s needs. We also viewed two records which related to recruitment and other records relating to staff training and the management of the home.

We observed people’s care and support in the communal areas of the home and how staff interacted with people.

Updated 19 March 2016

This inspection took place on 9 February 2016 and was unannounced.

Crowmoor House is registered to provide accommodation with personal care to a maximum of 57 people. There were 52 people living at the home on the day of our inspection. The home provides care and support for older people some of whom were living with dementia, mental health or learning disabilities.

A registered manager was in post and was present during our inspection. 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.

Staff had received training in and understood how to protect people from any harm and abuse. Systems were in place for staff to follow which protected people and kept them safe. Staff knew how to and were confident in reporting any concerns they may have about a person’s safety.

People were happy they were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to safely meet their needs. When people needed or asked for help and support they were not kept waiting and staff responded swiftly. The registered manager monitored how many staff were needed based on people’s individual needs. Checks were completed on potential new staff to make sure they were suitable to work with people living at the home.

People were supported to take their medicines safely and when they needed them. Medicines were stored safely and only staff who had received training and been assessed as competent were able to support people with their medicines.

Staff asked people’s permission before they helped them with any care or support. People’s right to make their own decisions about their own care and treatment were supported by staff. Where people were unable to make their own decisions these were made in their best interests by people who knew them and other relevant professionals.

Staff supported people to maintain a healthy balanced diet and supported them to make their own choices about what they wanted to eat and drink. People’s routine health needs were met and referrals were made quickly when people needed other health care support or staff were worried about a person’s health.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and had good relationships with them. Staff made sure people were involved in their own care and made sure they understood information that was given to them. People were treated with dignity and respect and staff understood how important this was in the way they cared for people.

People were happy with the care and support they received and gave positive comments about the staff and management at the home. Care that staff gave was personal to each person and people were supported to spend their time how they wanted to.

People knew how to raise complaints but told us they had not needed to. They were able to give their opinions of the home and the care they received at meetings and through surveys. People felt involved in what happened at the home and felt staff and management listened to them.

The home had a positive culture where staff worked for the benefit of the people they supported. The provider had systems in place which assessed and monitored the quality of care and support staff provided at the home.