Archived: The Anchorage Residential Care Home

The Anchorage Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing personal for up to 36 older people with various support needs, including physical and sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection, 31 people were in residence. The care home is set in well-maintained, easily accessible grounds. It consists of one adapted building with a modern, purpose-built wing. All bedrooms have en-suite facilities and there are a range of communal areas for people to enjoy.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People felt safe and told us they enjoyed living at the service. One person said, “The atmosphere hits you at the front door. It’s a calm, happy place”. Risks to people had been assessed and staff followed guidance to keep people safe. Staffing levels were enough to meet people's needs. Medicines were managed safely. The home was clean and staff had been trained in infection prevention and control. Lessons were learned if things went wrong.

People spoke positively about the staff who supported them and had confidence in their skills and experience. Staff had regular supervisions and an annual appraisal. People enjoyed the food and were able to make suggestions for changes to the menu. Snacks and drinks were readily available throughout the day. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals and support. Premises were suitable and comfortable and met people's needs. People spoke enthusiastically about the gardens and we saw people enjoying the outdoor space.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice

People were looked after by kind and caring staff who knew them well. People were encouraged to be involved in decisions relating to their care and were treated with dignity and respect. In a card of thanks, one relative had written, ‘She was beautifully looked after by kind and caring people'.

People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs. Activities were organised according to people's preferences, interests and suggestions. Several activities involved people from the local community.

People could spend the rest of their lives at the home, if their needs could be met and this was their wish.

People considered the home was well-organised. The registered manager provided a visible presence at the home. People were encouraged in their involvement and development of the home and their feedback was encouraged. A podiatrist who regularly visited the home told us, ‘The Anchorage Care Home has always struck me as a friendly and caring home, relaxed and yet efficient’.

The provider had systems of quality assurance to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. There were links with the community, for example, children and young people visited the home. The home worked proactively with healthcare professionals. The senior team had taken a lead role in sharing their experience of developing staff champions for areas of care such as continence and diabetes with other providers in the local area.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 10 December 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

The Anchorage Residential Care Home provides residential care for up to 36 people older people in Pulborough. At the time of our visit there were 28 people living at the home. The home has a wide range of communal areas and well maintained accessible gardens.

The home had a registered manager in place. 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 were protected from risks to their health and wellbeing. Up to date plans were in place to manage risks, without unduly restricting people’s independence.

People said they felt safe at the service and knew who they would speak to if they had concerns. The service followed the West Sussex safeguarding procedure, which was available to staff. Staff knew what their responsibilities were in reporting any suspicion of abuse.

People were treated with respect and their privacy was promoted. Staff were caring and responsive to the needs of the people they supported. People's health and well-being was assessed and measures put in place to ensure people's needs were met in an individualised way.

People’s medicines were managed safely. People had enough to eat and drink throughout the day and night. The mealtime was an inclusive experience. After people had finished their meal many remained in the dining room chatting and drinking tea and coffee.

There was an open and friendly culture combined with a dedication to providing the best possible care to people. Staff at all levels were approachable, knowledgeable, professional, keen to talk about their work and committed to the on-going development of the home. The atmosphere in the home was happy and calm. People were engaged and occupied; they were interacting with each other and chatting. Every person we spoke to, without exception was extremely complimentary about the caring nature of the staff.

Staff received training to enable them to do their jobs safely and to a good standard. They felt the support received helped them to do their jobs well.

There were enough staff on duty to support people with their assessed needs. The registered manager considered people’s support needs when completing the staffing rota and staffing levels were calculated appropriately. The registered manager followed safe recruitment procedures to ensure that staff working with people were suitable for their roles.

People benefited from receiving a service from staff who worked well together as a team. The staff team took an obvious pride in their work, but were not complacent, and were looking for ways to improve the service. Staff were confident they could take any concerns to the management and these would be taken seriously. People were aware of how to raise a concern and were confident appropriate action would be taken.

The premises and gardens were well maintained. All maintenance and servicing checks were carried out, keeping people safe. People were empowered to contribute to improve the service. People had opportunities to feedback their views about the home and quality of the care they had received.

We looked at the care records of four people. We saw evidence that care had been planned and delivered in line their needs. We also saw evidence that people's consent had been obtained for care and treatment.

We observed that staff were polite and considerate in the way they cared for people. One person said, "Staff treat you very well."

We spoke with three members of staff. They said they worked as a team and that they felt there was enough staff on duty to meet people's needs.

When we looked around the home we saw that it was clean, comfortable and well maintained. There was calm, homely atmosphere.

The home encouraged comments and suggestions from people and their relatives. We saw evidence that any concerns raised were acted on.

The staff we spoke to said they enjoyed working at the home. They said they felt well supported and had received all the training they required.

The home provided a spacious, calm environment for the people who lived their and the facilities allowed for their privacy and dignity to be respected.

We found people's views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered and that they were encouraged to contribute through regular residents meetings and "pop-in" sessions with the manager.

The home had an activities co-ordinator and a wide range of activities were provided for the people who lived there.

When we looked at people's care records we found that people's needs were assessed and support was planned but care was not always delivered in line with individual care plans.