Archived: High Lee Care Home

High Lee Care Home is a rurally placed residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 12 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 17 people. The accommodation is arranged over two floors, with a stair lift to help make the upper floor accessible to people.

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

People said they were safe living at High Lee, and there were systems in place to ensure their safety and well-being. One safeguarding alert needed to be made as a result of a medicines error, and we made a recommendation about acting on feedback from an external audit of medicines safety. We found medicines administration and storage was mostly safe, but some concerns were raised about the quality of support and advice the service received from the pharmacy supplying medicines.

There were sufficient, safely recruited and well trained staff deployed at all times. Staff said they were well supported by the management team. People enjoyed the meals served at High Lee, and were able to make suggestions about what they wanted to see on the menu. Peoples’ health and well-being was maintained with the support of a range of other health professionals as needed.

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.

Staff and people got on well, and peoples’ choices and preferences were known and respected. Diverse needs were understood and met, and there was no evidence people experienced discrimination based on characteristics such as their age, gender, cultural background or sexuality.

Care planning was person centred and responsive to changes in people’s needs, with people and their families kept up to date with any changes or incidents. Complaints and concerns were acted on robustly, and the service received compliments for the quality of its care, especially when looking after people at the end of their lives. People had access to activities which they were involved in planning.

There were robust processes in place to monitor and drive improvements in the quality of care, with people and staff supported to share feedback as an integral part of this. The management team made improvements based on research and training they undertook, and health professionals gave very good feedback about the quality of care.

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 (published 13 April 2017).

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.

High Lee Care Home is a 17 bed service and is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for older people. Nursing care is not provided. The accommodation is arranged over two floors linked by a stair lift. There are 14 single bedrooms and one double bedroom all of the bedrooms have en-suite toilet facilities and one also has a shower. There is a communal lounges and a dining room for people to use on the ground floor. The home is located in Luddedenfoot, Halifax.

On the day of the inspection there were 13 people using the service. One person had moved out on the day of our visit.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

We found staff were being recruited safely and there were enough care workers to take care of people and to keep the home clean. Staff were receiving appropriate training and they told us the training was good. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and care supervisor and were receiving formal supervision and appraisals where they could discuss their on-going development needs.

The service was exceptionally caring. People who used the service and their relatives told us staff were helpful, kind, attentive and caring. We saw people were treated with respect and compassion. They also told us they felt safe with the care they were provided with. We found there were appropriate systems in place to protect people from risk of harm.

Staff knew about people’s dietary needs and preferences. Meals looked appetising and any particular requests from people had been incorporated into the menu. We also saw there were plenty of drinks available and a ‘Sweet Shop’ and ‘Fruit Stand’ in the dining room where people could help themselves to anything they wanted.

Care plans were up to date and detailed exactly what care and support people wanted and needed. Risk assessments were in place and showed what action had been taken to mitigate any risks which had been identified. People who used the service and relatives told us they were very happy with the care and support being provided. We saw people looked well-groomed and well cared for.

People’s healthcare needs were being met and medicines were being managed safely.

We saw people who used the service were being provided with a highly individualised service. Staff knew about people’s lives and interests and used this information to engage with people and provide relevant activities. The registered manager was using innovative ways to get people who used the service to engage in activities and with the environment.

We found the service was meeting the legal requirements relating to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff had an excellent understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and DoLS and were ensuring people’s human rights were being upheld.

Visitors said they were made to feel welcome and were kept fully informed about their relatives well-being.

There was a complaints procedure in place. The registered manager dealt with any concerns or complaints in line with their complaints procedure. They viewed this system as a positive way of making improvements to the overall service and to get things right for each individual.

We saw there were excellent systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. When areas for improvement had been identified action had been taken to address those shortfalls.

People who used the service were asked for their views and were able to influence the way the service was managed.

"I have no grumbles at all, they are really good"

"I'm a lot better now than I was before I came in here"

"We get really nice food and we can choose what we want"

"I really like my bedroom"

"All the staff are grand"

We saw that care delivery and care documentation was of a high standard. Staff demonstrated a good knowledge of the people who lived at the home. There was a nice atmosphere with genuine warmth between staff and the people who lived at the home.

We saw that people enjoyed a choice of good quality nutritious food and were offered drinks and snacks between meals. Systems were in place to make sure that medicines were managed safely and records were maintained and stored appropriately.

We spoke with four members of staff who told us that they enjoyed working at the home and felt they received the training and support they needed to do their jobs properly. We saw a supportive and respectful relationship between staff at all levels.

People who lived at the home told us that they were happy with the care and support they received. These are some of the things they said:

"I like it here, I'm very comfortable and the staff are very kind to me"

"I'm very satisfied"

"The food is very good"

"The staff are very helpful"

Both members of care staff we spoke with told us that they very much enjoyed working at the home. One person said it was the best place they had worked in a long career in care.

We found a very homely atmosphere and observed warm and friendly interactions between staff and the people living at the home.