Archived: Dalemain House Residential Home

Updated 25 August 2016

Start this section with the following sentence:

'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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.'

Say when the inspection took place and be very clear about whether the inspection was announced or unannounced, for example by saying:

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector and an expert by experience with expertise in the care of older people. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. This included the Provider Information Return (PIR). A PIR 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. We also looked at the intelligence the Care Quality Commission had received about the home. We contacted the commissioners of the service to see if they had any updates about the home. They expressed no concerns about the service.

During the inspection we spent time with six people who were living at the home and they shared their views of the home with us. We also sought feedback from three relatives who were visiting the home at the time of our inspection. We spoke with a total of five staff, including the registered manager, the chef, activity coordinator and two care staff.

We looked at the care records for three people living at the home, three staff personnel files and records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service. We looked round the home, including people’s bedrooms, the kitchen, bathrooms, garden and the lounge areas.

Updated 25 August 2016

This unannounced inspection took place on 21June 2016.

Dalemain House Residential Home is a care home which provides personal care and support for up to 24 older people. The home is located in a residential area, close to the town of Southport, which can be reached by the local transport services. The home is a large converted house and all areas are accessible by a passenger lift and there is ramped access to the front garden.

There were 23 people living at the home when we carried out the inspection.

A registered manager was in post. 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.

People and families that we spoke with said the home was a safe place to live and care was provided in a safe, kind and caring way by respectful staff. They described how there was a lovely family atmosphere at the home and that staff were engaging and positive. We observed interactive and warm engagement between people living at the home and staff throughout the inspection.

The staff we spoke with could clearly describe how they would recognise abuse and the action they would take to ensure actual or potential abuse was reported. Staff confirmed they had received adult safeguarding training.

Staff told us they were well supported through the induction process, regular supervision and appraisal. They were up-to-date with the training they were required by the organisation to undertake for the job and training records confirmed this. Staff had been appropriately recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. People living at the home and staff told us there was sufficient numbers of staff on duty at all times.

A range of risk assessments had been completed depending on people’s individual needs. Care plans were well completed and they reflected people’s current needs, in particular people’s physical health care needs. Risk assessments and care plans were reviewed on a monthly basis or more frequently if needed.

Safeguards were in place to ensure medicines were managed in a safe way. Medicines were administered individually from the medication trolley to people living at the home. Checks and audits were in place to monitor that medicines were managed in accordance with the home’s policy and national guidance.

The building and equipment was clean, well-lit and clutter free. Measures were in place to monitor the safety of the environment and equipment.

People’s individual needs and preferences were respected by staff. They were supported to maintain optimum health and could access a range of external health care professionals when they needed to. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and their preferred routines. A varied programme of recreational activities was available for people to participate in.

People told us they enjoyed the meals. They told us the quality and quantity of the meals was good. There was plenty of choice. Drinks and snacks were available throughout the day.

Staff sought people’s consent before providing support or care. The service had taken account of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). Appropriate applications to deprive people of their liberty under the Mental Capacity Act (2005) had been submitted to the Local Authority. Mental capacity assessments were generic in nature and not decision specific in accordance with the principles of the Act. We made a recommendation regarding this.

People said the owner and manager were approachable. People said the service was well managed and they said their views were sought about how to develop the service.

The culture within the service was and open and transparent. Staff and people living there said the management was both approachable and supportive. They felt listened to and involved in the running of the home.

Staff were aware of the whistle blowing policy and said they would not hesitate to use it. Opportunities were in place to address lessons learnt from the outcome of incidents, complaints and other investigations.

A procedure was established for managing complaints and people living at the home were aware of what to do should they have a concern or complaint.

A wide-range of audits or checks were in place to monitor the quality and safety of care provided. These were used to identify developments for the service.