Archived: Pals Residential Care

Pals Residential Care is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for adults who require care and who may have a dementia related illness for a maximum of 14 people. There were 10 people living at the home on the day of the inspection. There was a registered manager in place but they no longer worked at the home. 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.

During our inspection we observed staff were available to provide advice or guidance that reduced people’s risks. The knowledge staff had about people had not been recorded to ensure there was consistent care for people.

People received their medicines as prescribed and at the correct time. However, we found systems and processes needed to be improved. Staff had not always followed safe practices when administering people’s medicines.

Staff had not been provided with training that reflected the needs of people who lived at the home. The training information showed that staffs knowledge had not been updated since 2012. People told us and we saw their privacy and dignity were respected and staff were kind to them. However, on occasions we saw people had not always received support to have their dignity respected.

People had not always been involved in the planning of their care due and have accurate records of their care kept. People had access to other healthcare professionals that provided treatment, advice and guidance to support their health needs. This information had not always been followed by the staff or recorded.

People had not always been supported to maintain their hobbies and interests or live in an environment that supported their needs. The provider had not been able to review any concerns raised as no records had been kept. Information was not available for the provider to improve the service.

We found quality monitoring systems failed to be operated effectively to ensure risks were identified and mitigated. The documentation was not up to date and accurate and the quality of the service had not been able to improve. We viewed care documentation and found this was not always accurate, complete and reflective of people’s needs.

People told us they felt safe and free from the potential risk of abuse. Staff told us about how they supported people’s safety. People told us there were enough staff to support them. Staff told us they had time to meet the needs of people living at the home.

People told us they liked the staff and felt they knew how to look after them and were included in day to day decisions about their care and support. People were supported to eat and drink enough to keep them healthy, but more support with choices at mealtimes were needed.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to any concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

We saw that people were respected by staff. Staff asked people if they were happy with them giving care before they gave it. We saw that people appeared comfortable with the staff that supported them. People told us: 'The staff are kind here'. 'Staff treat us very well'. We saw that staff were kind and caring in their approach to people who lived at the home.

We saw that staff were aware of each person's needs and how to give care and support to meet those needs. We found that information had been kept up to date and that plans were in place to support staff to make sure they worked in a consistent way.

People were supported with access to additional medical services as necessary to make sure their health and social welfare was protected at all times.

Recruitment procedures were in place and had been followed to make sure that suitable people were employed to work at the home. Staff told us they: 'Love working here, everyone is great'.

There was a complaints procedure in place and on display at the home. The deputy manager told us this procedure would be followed in the event any comments or complaints were received.

We received an action plan that stated the improvement actions would be in place and completed by 24 October 2012.

When we inspected this time we found that the provider had met all the action in their action plan which they submitted to us.

Regular meetings were happening between staff and for people who used the service. We saw that staff supervisions were happening and that the majority of staff had received relevant training to support them to provide appropriate care to people who used the service.

People were protected from the risk of abuse as the provider had taken steps to make sure that staff understood types of abuse, knew their responsibilities and knew how to report concerns.

Quarterly review meetings were happening to assess people's care needs and to ensure care plans and risk assessments reflected people's current care needs. We found that records were presented in a way that made it easy for staff to find appropriate guidance on people's care needs and that records were accurate and up to date.