Eastwood Lodge is situated in the village of Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire. The home offers accommodation for to up to 19 older people some of whom have needs associated with memory loss and who live with conditions such as dementia.
We inspected the home on 27 January 2016. The inspection was unannounced. There were 19 people living in the home at the time of this inspection.
At the time of our inspection there was an established registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 registered provider had safe recruitment processes in place and background checks had been completed before new staff were appointed to ensure they were safe to work at the home.
Staff were well supported and had received training in order to enable them to provide care in a way which ensured people’s individual needs were met. Staff also knew how to recognise and report any concerns they had regarding people’s safety so that people were kept safe from harm.
People were involved in making decisions about their care and how they wanted to be supported. The registered manager had processes in place which ensured, when needed, they acted in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves. At the time of this inspection DoLS applications had been completed by the registered manager for four people living in the home and was waiting for these to be assessed by the local authority.
Staff provided the care described in each person’s care record and had access to a range of visiting healthcare professionals when they required both routine and more specialist help. Clear arrangements were also in place for ordering, storing, administering and disposing of medicines.
Staff understood what was important to people and worked closely with people, each other and with families to ensure each person had a meaningful and enjoyable life. An activities team organised a planned and varied programme of individual and communal activities for those who wished to participate.
People were provided with a good choice of nutritious meals. When necessary, people were given any extra help they needed to make sure that they had enough to eat and drink to keep them healthy.
People their relatives and staff could voice their views and opinions. The manager listened and took action to resolve any issues or concerns identified. Formal systems were in place for handling and resolving complaints. The registered manager ran the home in an open and inclusive way and the registered provider encouraged staff to speak out if they had any concerns.
The provider and registered manager had systems in place to regularly assess and monitor care practice and to ensure people received a good quality of care. The systems in place meant that any shortfalls in quality could be quickly identified and improvements made.