Archived: Straven House Care Home

Updated 10 February 2016

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 23 November 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service, in this case experiences of services for older people.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. This included looking at information we had received about the service and statutory notifications we had received from the home. We usually send the provider a Provider Information Return (PIR) before the inspection.

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 did not send a PIR to the provider before this inspection.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who used the service. We spent time observing care and support being delivered. We looked at five people’s care records, medicines administration records (MAR) and other records which related to the management of the service such as training records, staff recruitment records and policies and procedures.

We spoke with eight people who were living in the home, four relatives, four care staff, the chef and the manager. We also spoke with one visiting healthcare professional.

Following the inspection we asked the manager to send us some additional information including some equipment maintenance records. The information we requested was sent to us in a timely manner.

Updated 10 February 2016

Straven House Residential Home has a total of 24 beds and is part of BUPA Care Homes (GL) Limited. The service is registered to provide accommodation and personal care services for predominantly older people and people living with Dementia. There were 17 people living at Straven House at the time of the inspection.

We inspected Straven House on the 23 November 2015 and the visit was unannounced. Our last inspection took place in September 2013 and at that time the service was meeting the regulations we looked at. However, at the time we did bring to the attention of the registered manager some areas of service delivery which could be improved.

At the time of this inspection the current manager was not registered with the Care Quality Commission. However, on the 8 December 2015 their application was approved by the Commission and they became the registered manager. 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. The previous registered manager had cancelled their registration at the end of September 2015.

People were very happy living at Straven House and we received positive comments about their experiences of the service throughout our visit. People told us they felt safe because the staff were caring and because the manager listened to them and ensured there were enough staff to meet their needs.

People received appropriate care and support because there were effective systems in place to assess, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate people's needs and wherever possible people were involved in these processes. This ensured their needs were clearly identified and the care, treatment and support they received was meaningful and personalised. Regular monitoring and reviews meant that referrals had been made to appropriate health and social care professionals and where necessary care and support plans had been updated to accurately reflect people's changing needs. People experienced a lifestyle which met their individual expectations, capacity and preferences.

The home had a safeguarding policy in place which made staff’s aware of their roles and responsibilities. We found staff knew and understood how to protect people from abuse and harm and kept them as safe as possible. The care plans in place were person centred and contained individual risk assessments which identified specific risks to people health and general well-being, such as falls, mobility and skin integrity.

There were procedures in place in relation to Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) that included steps that staff should take to comply with legal requirements. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. The manager understood when an application should be made and how to submit one when required.

We found medication policies and procedures were in place and staff responsible for administering medication received appropriate training.

Staff were careful to protect people’s privacy and dignity and people told us they were treated with dignity and respect. We saw information relating to people’s care and treatment was treated confidentially and personal records were stored securely.

People told us staff were responsive to their needs and when they asked for something this was provided. The activities plan for the home showed that daily activities took place and people were encouraged to participate in local community events.

We saw the complaints policy had been available to everyone who used the service. The policy detailed the arrangements for raising complaints, responding to complaints and the expected timescales within which a response would be received.

Staff told us communication within the home was good and staff meetings were held to keep them up to date with any changes in policies and procedures or anything that might affect people’s care and treatment.