Archived: Sycamore Lodge Care Home

Updated 10 March 2015

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, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

An unannounced inspection was carried out at the service on 2 and 3 October 2014 by an adult social care inspector.

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 the inspection the PIR for the service was reviewed and evaluated. We also spoke to a number of health care professionals involved with the service before the inspection took place. For example, community nurses, district nurses and social workers.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, a registered nurse, eight care workers, five relatives and six people who lived at the home. We also spoke to the residential manager who was responsible for the care workers on the residential side of the home. We spent time observing how care workers and other staff interacted with the people who lived at the home. We completed two short observational framework for inspections (SOFI), one in the lounge and the second over lunchtime. SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of paperwork including eight people’s care plans and risk assessments, the registered providers policies and procedures, staff meeting minutes and minutes from ‘resident and relative’ meetings, audits, accident and incident records and complaints.

Updated 10 March 2015

An unannounced inspection was carried out at the service on 2 and 3 October 2014 by an adult social care inspector.

Sycamore Lodge provides personal and nursing care to a maximum of 45 people. It is situated in the town of Ashby on the outskirts of Scunthorpe. There are bedrooms and bathrooms on two floors, which can accessed by a passenger lift or stairs. There is a range of communal areas including a conservatory and a number of lounges.

At our last inspection on 24 September 2013 the service met the regulations inspected.

There was a registered manager at the service at the time of our inspection who had been in post for over 10 years. 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.

During our inspection we looked at six care files. Each file contained a pre admission assessment that was used to develop an individual plan of care. Risk assessments were in place to reduce the risks to the people who lived at the home.

Care staff had been trained to recognise the signs of abuse and were aware of what action to take if they suspected abuse had occurred. A care worker we spoke with said, “I would report anything I saw straight away, but all the staff are really caring and I’ve never seen anything that has concerned me.”

Staff we spoke with confirmed that they had completed training in relation to the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). At the time of our inspection two people who lived at the home were subject to such safeguards. We saw that people were not deprived of their liberty unlawfully.

A care plan we reviewed stated a person who lived at the home was at risk of developing pressure sores. Plans had been developed to minimise the possibility of this occurring. However, the records we saw showed that the plans had not been followed and person had not received the amount of fluids required to reduce the risk them developing pressure sores.

We spent time observing how care workers and other staff interacted with people who lived at the home. We saw that people were treated respectfully and that care workers asked personal questions in a discreet way. When care workers supported people it was done at their own pace and was not task orientated.

Reasonable adjustments had been made to the home to enable people to remain as independent as possible. Grab rails, a passenger lift and other aids were available within the home. One person had a communication book that had been specifically designed to enable them to communicate with care workers.

We saw evidence to confirm that a range of health care professionals were involved in the care and support of people who lived at the home. For example doctors, district nurses, dieticians and social workers.

Team meetings were held regularly and used as a forum to discuss changes to policies and procedures, paperwork and staff training. We saw that handover meetings were held daily to ensure staff were aware of any changes in the needs of people who lived at the home.

Staff confirmed that the registered manager was a visible presence within the home and that they could discuss any issues or concerns they had openly and honestly.