Archived: Poplars

Updated 2 September 2017

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 took place on 20 June 2017 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

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. We reviewed the information included in the PIR along with other information we held about the service. This included safeguarding alerts and statutory notifications which related to the service. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

We focused on speaking with people who lived at the service and observing how people were cared for. Where people at the service had complex needs and were not able verbally to talk with us, or chose not to, we used observation as our main tool to gather evidence of people’s experiences of the service. As part of our observations we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We met with the interim manager. We spoke with 7 members of care and domestic staff and 6 people who used the service. We had contact with two family members. We also spoke with two health and social care professional to find out their views on the service.

We reviewed a range of documents and records including the care records for people who used the service. We also looked at three staff files and documents relating to the employment of staff, complaints, accidents and incidents and the management of the service.

Updated 2 September 2017

The inspection took place on 20 June 2017 and was unannounced.

Poplars provides care and accommodation for up to 34 people who may need assistance with personal care and may have care needs associated with living with dementia. The service does not provide nursing care. At the time of our visit there were 21people living in the service. There were three people living on the first floor, known as “Tree Tops.”

A registered manager was not in post at the service. 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 met with the interim manager who going to apply to become the registered manager.

Staff supported people in a caring and compassionate manner. They spent time talking to them and developing positive relationships. Whilst activities were in place, we found these were not always person centred. Where people had more complex needs, such as dementia, they did not have always have access to pastimes tailored around their needs and interests. We have therefore made a recommendation about developing person centred activities.

Care plans had been developed which outlined people’s care needs. Improvements were underway to ensure these were more person centred and easier for staff to read. Reviews of care were not carried out and recorded effectively, however staff responded well to people’s changing needs. People knew how to complain and the manager responded well to concerns.

Risk was well managed and people were supported to remain safe. People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff used a new electronic system for administering medicines and people received their medicines as prescribed. There were sufficient staff to keep people safe.

Staff were well supported and worked well as a team for the benefit of the people they cared for. Staff knew how to meet people’s needs effectively. The manager knew where there were gaps in knowledge and skills and were supporting staff to access improved training.

The service was meeting the requirements of The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Assessments of capacity had been undertaken and applications for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) had been made to the relevant local authority. Personalised decisions were made in people’s best interest, involving family and outside professionals as appropriate. Staff were skilled at supporting people to be involved in decisions about their care.

People had enough to eat and drink in line with their preferences. Staff monitored where people were at risk from losing weight or not drinking enough and any concerns were addressed promptly. Staff worked alongside health and social care professionals to support people to maintain good health and wellbeing.

The manager was committed to driving improvement and had responded well to concerns raised by outside professionals. There was an open and calm atmosphere where people and staff were encouraged to give feedback about the care at the service. There were a number of checks in place to monitor the quality of the service. These had been revised to provide a more robust oversight of the care people received.