Archived: Petteril House

Updated 25 June 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 checked 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.

This inspection took place on 9th March 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care lead inspector.

We did not receive a Provider Information Form (PIR) as one had not been sent to the provider for completion. 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. We reviewed the information we held about the service, such as notifications we had received from the registered provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We looked at the information we held on safeguarding referrals, concerns raised with us and applications the manager had made under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We planned the inspection using this information.

During our inspection we spoke to five people who lived in the home, a small group of people in the ground floor lounge, two relatives who were visiting on the day of our inspection visit. We also spoke to four support workers one supervisor, one domestic and spent time with the acting manager.

We also spent time looking at records, which included looking at six people’s care plans and risk assessments to help us see how their care was being planned and delivered. We also looked at the staff rotas for the previous month, staff training records and records relating to the maintenance and the management of the service and records. We also looked at the system in place to monitor the level of care and support provided.

As part of the inspection we also looked at records and care plans relating to the use of medicines.

Updated 25 June 2015

This unannounced inspection took place on the 9th & 12th March 2015. During our previous inspection on the 17 July 2013 we found the provider met all the standards we inspected.

Petteril House is a care home registered to provide accommodation for 37 older people requiring personal care. The home is located on the outskirts of Carlisle and is close to local shops and public transport routes.

The property is a two storey building with a passenger lift to assist people to access the accommodation on the first floor. People live in small units, each with its own sitting and dining area. One unit specialises in providing care for people living with dementia and other complex needs.

The registered manager had been absent for six months and the home had been managed on a part time basis by a registered manager from another service within Cumbria Care. A new full time manager was recently appointed and was in post on the second day of our inspection. She is already employed the provider as she has been managing another service within the organisation.

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.

We have made a recommendation about ensuring staff training is kept up to date and staff receive updates in a timely way.

The service was not being well managed in respect of effectiveness of the quality monitoring systems used to assess practices and improve aspects of the service where needed.

We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 in relation to effectively monitoring and improving the quality of the service people received.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report

All the people we spoke to during our inspection visit told us they felt safe living in Petteril House. They told us there was enough staff to help them when they needed assistance of any kind.

We found that people’s needs were assessed prior to their admission to the home. Records showed people and their family members had been involved in making decisions about what was important to them.

Nutritional assessments were in place and people were encouraged to eat a healthy diet. Special dietary needs were catered for.

Each person had a care and support plan in place giving the staff team sufficient information to provide the appropriate level of care.

The service worked well with external agencies such as social services and mental health professionals to provide appropriate care to meet people’s physical and emotional needs.

Procedures for the recruitment of staff were robust which ensured only suitable people were employed to care and support vulnerable adults with a variety of needs.

The receipt, administration and disposal of medicines was handled well and all records were up to date.

People knew how they could complain about the service they received and were confident that action would be taken in response to any concerns they raised.

The service followed the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of practice and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. This helped to protect the rights of people who were not able to make important decisions