Updated 22 June 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors, a specialist professional advisor (SPA) and an expert by experience. The SPA had clinical experience of supporting people with nursing needs. In addition, the Expert-by-Experience was a person who had personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type:
Dovehaven Lodge is a ‘care home.’ People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
This inspection visit was unannounced.
What we did:
Before our inspection we completed our planning document and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service and previous inspection reports.
We checked to see if any information concerning the care and welfare of people supported by the service had been received. We also contacted the commissioning department at Lancashire County Council and Healthwatch Lancashire. Healthwatch Lancashire is an independent consumer champion for health and social care. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service.
As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Returns. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
We used 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. This was because some people were not able to speak with us and tell us about their experiences living at the home.
During the inspection we spoke with 11 people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight care staff, two senior carers, three nurses, the provider and the area manager. In addition, we spoke with an activities co-ordinator, the cook, deputy manager and the registered manager. We observed care practices and how staff interacted with people in their care. This helped us understand the experience of people supported by the service.
We looked at care records of six people, staff recruitment, training, supervision records and arrangements for meal provision. We also looked at records related to the management of the home and the medicines records of people. We reviewed the services staffing levels and walked around the building to ensure it was clean, hygienic and a safe place for people to live.