Archived: Flora Lodge

Updated 14 November 2014

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 was meeting the regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process under Wave 1.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home and asked the provider to complete an information return. We used this to help us decide what areas to focus on during our inspection.

We visited the home on 30 April and 1 May 2014. We met eight of the twelve people who lived at the home and observed daily life in the home. We looked at all areas of the building including communal areas and, with permission, some people’s bedrooms.

The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience who had experience of services for people with mental health needs.

We spoke with the registered manager and all care workers on duty at the time of our visit. We looked at a number of records including people’s personal records, staff records and records in relation to the management of the home.

Updated 14 November 2014

Flora Lodge provides care and support for twelve people with mental health needs and has a registered manager in post. We met eight people who used the service during our inspection and asked them about their experiences of the service.

We found people were protected from the risk of abuse as effective systems were in place and staff understood what action to take to protect people. However the behaviour of some staff at times was not respectful of people’s sensibilities, emotional well-being and dignity. Although everybody we spoke with felt safe living at the home, we were concerned that the attitude and behaviour of some staff may have at times undermined this. .

There was also limited understanding and implementation of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Risk assessments were in place but we found them to be inadequate. People received their medication as prescribed but overall the management of medicines did not protect people from the associated risks.

There were systems in place that monitored the quality of service and the delivery of care and support however, this had not been fully effective in identifying concerns with risk assessments, care planning or staff interactions with people and had therefore not lead to the necessary improvements. The service had not met CQC requirements to notify us about all the events they are required to inform us about by law.

Care plans recorded people’s wishes and preferences but did not always provide detail about how staff should meet people’s needs. We found that people’s health had been monitored and guidance from health professionals had been sought when appropriate.

We spoke with staff and found they had received appropriate training, supervision and support to enable them to provide effective care to people. There were sufficient numbers of staff to ensure the safe and effective delivery of care. We observed the staff team treating people with kindness and the manager, in particular, had developed good relationships with the people who used the service.  Comments from people living in the home included: “I love it here”, “The food here is good,” and “The manager is very approachable”.

Records showed that people’s views, wishes, preferences and concerns were sought, listened and responded to.

We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.