Ampersand

People and relatives described staff as kind, friendly and respectful. People said staff helped them and made them feel safe.

“They are all very nice and very respectful. They always call me by my name” from the report

Staff understood what abuse could mean and knew how to report concerns. Safeguarding concerns had been reported appropriately.

“Staff had received safeguarding training and knew how to escalate concerns to outside organisations” from the report

Inspectors found that people were supported to make choices where possible. Where people lacked capacity, decisions were made in their best interests and in the least restrictive way.

“People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives” from the report

Inspectors saw a calm atmosphere, and people and relatives spoke positively about the management and the home.

“There was a calm, relaxed atmosphere at the service.” from the report

Inspectors found that patches were not used according to prescriber's instructions and medicine quantities did not always match the records. Daily medicine balances had not been recorded, so it was not possible to establish when errors happened.

“The provider has failed to manage medicines safely. This placed people at risk.” from the report

Some risk assessments were missing or lacked important, person-specific information. This included risks linked to infection, falls, anticoagulant medicines, catheters, evacuation and flammable creams.

“Risk assessments did not always have information staff needed to keep people safe.” from the report

Some areas were not clean and inspectors noticed a smell of stale urine. Infection risks relating to one person had not been assessed or managed.

“Some areas of the service were not clean. There was a smell of stale urine in one part of the service.” from the report

Three staff files had gaps in employment history, and the application forms did not collect all the information required. This meant the home could not demonstrate that recruitment was robust.

“Staff recruitment records showed gaps in three members of staff employment history.” from the report

Although the rota appeared sufficient, inspectors found that staff were not always deployed effectively. People sometimes waited for help, including in areas away from the main floor.

“I can ring my call bell and it could be 10 to 15 minutes before anyone comes.” from the report

Audits had not identified several of the problems found during the inspection. Care records were difficult to read, and daily records did not always explain what personal care had been offered.

“Systems in place to audit the quality of the service were not robust or sufficient to alert the provider of concerns and issues within the service.” from the report