Archived: Lime Trees

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service, because some of the people using the service had complex needs which meant they were not able to tell us their experiences.

We were able to speak with seven people living at the home, three relatives and one professional visitor to obtain their views about Lime Trees.

People that we were able to communicate with had a variety of views about their individual experiences of living at Lime Trees. Some people told us that they were happy living at the home and that they were satisfied with the care they received. Their comments included; 'The staff are kind.' 'It's not bad here. I get what I need.' 'They (the staff) look after us very, very well.'

Other people told us that they were dissatisfied with some aspects of the home. Two people told us that not enough staff were available to respond to their needs and the care provided could be better. Their comments included; 'This home has deteriorated, there is never enough staff. Often the staff that are around don't know you, and I don't know them. I had to show one staff where the kitchen was this morning. What hope is there for them knowing what I need if they don't even know that.' 'The permanent staff here are good. They are often rushed so you have to wait. Sometimes there aren't enough of them. You are lucky when you get them to come to you.'

We spoke with one relative who was visiting the home and they told us that they had some previous concerns regarding lack of care, poor hygiene and staffing. They had been considering moving their relative. However, they thought that things were starting to improve. Two further relatives were concerned about the lack of communication regarding the closure of the home and urgent move of their relative to another home.

We spoke with a chiropodist visiting the home who told us that they visited the home every six weeks. They commented that the home had improved over recent years, staff appeared to know people living at the home well and they had no concerns.

Following our visit on the 27 July 2012, we received some further information that concerned us regarding an incident that had affected a person living at the care home.

We revisited the home on 03 August 2012 to check that appropriate discharge processes were in place to make sure people were moved out of the home safely and to check that appropriate numbers of staff were available if any people were still residing at the home. We also requested the care records of three people who had recently used the service. Following receipt of these we reviewed the information contained within these records. At our visit on the 03 August 2012 we found that all people had been moved to alternative accommodation.

Whilst we found that staff were generally kind and respectful when supporting people, a number of the staff present within the lounge were relatively new to the home and had yet to get to know the people who used the service. We felt that this was reflected in our observations as we found that staff intervention was limited and that, at times, staff seemed a little uncomfortable when communicating and engaging with people. One of the nurses did put some music on and try to engage people but overall the atmosphere within the lounge during out period of observation remained flat.

We also observed some instances of poor communication from staff during our observation. These were demonstrated by staff not explaining their actions and the support they were delivering to people. We saw staff taking cups from people's hands without telling them and also observed one person who used a wheelchair being moved without care staff telling them where they were going.

We spoke with three people who were able to tell us their experience of living at Lime Trees. One person said, 'I'm O.K' and that, 'the staff look after me O.K.' Another person told us, 'I'm very happy here, staff are lovely. They come straight away when I need help' and, 'I'm O.K, no complaints at all.'

We spoke with the relatives of one person who used the service. Their feedback was mixed. They informed us that they had raised concerns about the cleanliness of their relative's room on a number of occasions within the previous month. They reported that these issues had continued throughout the month but had now been resolved by the room being cleaned on a daily basis and a chart being put within their relative's room to say that this had taken place. The informed us that, on the day of the inspection, their relative's room was cleaner than it had been during the previous month.

They told us that the care staff treated their relative well and, whilst there were often agency staff on duty, they seemed to have a knowledge to meet the needs of their relative. They were positive about the nurse on duty at the time of the inspection and were appreciative of the fact that she had telephoned them and asked them to speak and reassure their relative on one occasion when they had become anxious.