Archived: Derwent Care Home

The inspection was unannounced. This meant the provider or staff did not know about our inspection visit.

Derwent Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 45 older people. The home is set in its own grounds in a residential area near to public transport routes, local shops and community facilities.

There was a registered manager in place who had been in post at the home for over five 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.

People who used the service, and family members, were extremely complimentary about the standard of care provided. They told us the home suited them and they got along with staff who were friendly and helped them a lot. We saw staff treated people with dignity, compassion and respect and people were encouraged to remain as independent as possible.

The interactions between people and staff that were supportive and there was much laughter. Staff were kind and respectful; we saw that they were aware of how to respect people’s privacy and dignity.

All the care records we looked at showed people’s needs were assessed before they moved into the home and we saw care plans were written in a person centred way.

We saw that the home had an interesting and extensive programme of activities in place for people who used the service, including meaningful activities for people living with dementia.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to healthcare professionals and services. People were supported and encouraged to have regular health checks and were always accompanied by staff to hospital appointments and emergencies.

There was information about how to make a complaint at the home which was displayed on notice boards around the home. People we spoke with told us that they knew how to complain and found the registered manager approachable but did not have any concerns about the service.

There were robust procedures in place to make sure people were protected from abuse and staff had received training about the actions they must take if they saw or suspected that abuse was taking place.

People told us they were offered a wide selection of traditional and contemporary meals. We saw that each individual’s preference was catered for and people were supported to make sure their nutritional needs were met.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to meet the present needs of people using the service. The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out robust checks when they employed staff to make sure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people.

Staff training records were up to date and staff received regular supervisions, appraisals and a training / development plan was also completed, which meant that staff were properly supported to provide care to people who used the service.

We saw comprehensive medication audits were carried out regularly by the management team to make sure people received the treatment they needed.

The home was clean, spacious and suitably built for the people who used the service.

CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) are part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They aim to make sure that people in care homes, hospitals and supported living are looked after in a way that does not inappropriately restrict their freedom. We found the provider was following legal requirements in the DoLS.

The provider had a robust quality assurance system in place and gathered information about the quality of their service from a variety of sources including people who used the service and their family and friends. The staff and registered manager reflected on the work they had done to meet peoples’ needs so they could see if there was any better ways of working.