17 January 2020
During a routine inspection
The Grange provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 30 people.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe with the staff who came into their homes. This was confirmed by relatives. One relative said, “They are literally our eyes and ears to keep my mum safe and happy and I can’t thank them enough.”
People and relatives told us that care and support was provided by a consistent team of staff. One person said, “Time keeping is never a problem. We always know who’s going to be coming, from the rota we get from the manager.”
Overall, medicines were managed safely. We identified several recording shortfalls which the registered manager told us would be addressed.
People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain their health and wellbeing. Where required, staff assisted people to access healthcare services and receive ongoing healthcare support.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The registered manager was strengthening their documentation relating to mental capacity assessments and best interests’ decisions to ensure all areas of the process were evidenced.
People received personalised care which reflected their needs and preferences. One relative told us, “Her quality of life is much better with the support of the carers. She goes on trips to other villages and into Morpeth and they also take her to the dentist and opticians.”
A complaints procedure was in place. This did not accurately reflect CQC’s role in relation to complaints. The registered manager told us that this would be addressed. None of the people or relatives we spoke with raised any concerns or complaints.
Audits and spot checks were carried out to monitor the quality and safety of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 23 January 2019). We identified three breaches of the regulation. These related to staffing, need for consent and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.