Archived: Chestnuts Arnesby

Updated 30 March 2015

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 3 November 2014 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector 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.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications of issues that the provider is required to report to us. For example, if people had received serious injuries due to falls. However, this information did not include the provider information return (PIR). It is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they planned to make. We sent this to the provider but it was not returned. We took this into account when we made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection, we spoke with the manager, three care staff and the cook. We also spoke with one visitor and eight people who lived in the home. We observed the lunch time meal service.

We looked at the plans of care and associated care records for four people and other records which related to the management of the service such as training records and policies and procedures relevant to our inspection.

Updated 30 March 2015

This inspection took place on 3 November 2014 and was unannounced.

The Chestnuts, Arnesby provides accommodation and personal care for up to 15 people accommodated over two floors. This includes care of people with physical and mental health needs. On the day of the inspection 11 people were living in the home.

A registered manager was not 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The current manager had been in post since January 2014 and had applied to become the registered manager.

Staff had received training on how to protect people who used the service from abuse or harm. They demonstrated they were aware of their role and responsibilities in keeping people as safe as possible.

Assessments of people’s individual risks had not always been undertaken in order to inform staff of how to manage and minimise risks from happening.

Staffing levels were assessed based on the dependency needs of people who lived in the home so staff were available at the times people needed them.

The provider supported staff by an induction and some on going support, training and development. However, comprehensive training had not been provided to all staff. The manager enabled staff to share their views about how the service was provided. This was by regular staff meetings and supervision.

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is legislation that protects people who may lack capacity to consent to their care and treatment. Improvements were needed to ensure that the provider was following this legislation.

People who lived in the home had their dietary and nutritional needs assessed and planned for. People received a choice of what to eat and drink that supported them to maintain their health.

People’s personal and health care needs had been assessed and referrals to health professionals had been made in a timely manner.

People who lived in the home and a relative told us they found staff to be caring, compassionate and respectful. Our observations found staff to be kind, friendly and attentive to people’s individual needs and preferences.

People who lived in the home were able to participate in discussions and decisions about the care and treatment provided. This also included sharing their views and experience of the service in regular group meetings.

The provider’s quality and monitoring procedures required improvement to ensure that the quality and safety of service was monitored.

We found some concerns with regard to fire safety. The manager told us that action would be taken to address these issues.