People told us what it was like to live at this home and described how they were treated by staff and their involvement in making choices about their care. They also told us about the quality and choice of food and drink available. This was because this inspection was part of a themed inspection programme to assess whether older people living in care homes are treated with dignity and respect and whether their nutritional needs are met.The inspection team was led by a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector joined by an Expert by Experience, who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service, and a practising professional.
A number of people who used the service had varying levels of dementia, so not everyone was able to tell us about their life at the home. To help us understand people's experiences we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk with us.
We were able to speak with eight people. All of them told us they were happy living at Park Hall. One person said to us, 'Good food, it's warm and the staff are lovely, what more can you want?' We also spoke to four relatives about their thoughts on the home. All felt the staff treated people living at the home with respect. One relative told us, they were, 'Delighted with the place, the staff and the care given, we can't fault it.'
People were treated as equals, regardless of their level of communication and understanding. Everyone received the same caring response from care staff and included in the activities and conversations taking place. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to stay healthy and well. We saw that people who needed assistance with eating had individual help from staff who were attentive and patient. People's weight was checked on a monthly or on a weekly basis where there were concerns with weight loss or a poor appetite.
We spoke with five members of care staff. They had a good understanding of the types of abuse and their role in keeping people safe. The ongoing training of care staff reflected some of the specific needs of people living at the home. Care staff respected the day to day choices people were able to make and how their independence could be supported.
On the day of the inspection, care staffing levels did not provide adequate support across the day. Priority was given to meeting people's care and support needs. There was no time for care staff to spend any quality time with people. We found people with limited mobility and communication were sometimes left unsupervised in communal areas at different times across the day. One visitor told us that the lack of activities in the home and care staff time to encourage people to be independent and mobilise was a concern.
The general quality and accuracy of care plans and records needed to improve. It was sometimes difficult to check that care provided continued to meet people's needs.