Archived: Charterhouse Residential Care Home

Updated 18 March 2016

We undertook an unannounced focused inspection of Charterhouse on 19 and 27 January 2016. This inspection was done to check that improvements to meet legal requirements planned by the provider after our May 2015 inspection had been made. We also looked in to the concerns raised to us about the number of staff on duty and the amount of food available at the evening meal. We inspected the service against three of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe, effective and well-led. This is because the service was not meeting some legal requirements.

The inspection was undertaken by one social care inspector. The provider was unavailable on the first day of the inspection as they were undertaking an assessment of someone considering moving to the home. They were available on the second day. Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home, including the recent concerns raised with the Care Quality Commission and the improvements the provider told us they were going to make after the previous inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with six people who lived at the home, three members of care staff and the provider. We looked at three records relating to staff training and records relating to how the home monitored the quality of the services it provided. We also looked at the number of staff on duty and the arrangements for the evening meal on both days of the inspection.

Updated 18 March 2016

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 14 and 20 May 2015. Breaches of legal requirements were found. These related to Regulation 17 how the home assessed and monitored the quality of the services people received and Regulation 18 the training provided to staff. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breaches. The action plan provided details of the dates training had been booked and who was to provide this training. It also provided information about how the home was going to monitor the services it provided. At this inspection we found the home had met their actions regarding staff training and had partially met their actions regarding monitoring the services provided at the home.

In January 2016 we received information that there were insufficient staff on duty to meet people’s care needs and people were not being provided with enough food at the evening meal. We undertook this focused inspection to look into the concerns raised and to check the provider had taken sufficient action to meet their legal requirements.

We inspected the service against three of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe, effective and well-led? This was because the requirements and the concerns raised related to these questions. This report only covers our findings in relation to these issues. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Charterhouse Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Charterhouse Residential Care Homecare provides accommodation and personal care for up to 20 people. The home does not provide nursing care. This was provided by the community nursing service. At the time of the inspection there were 13 people living at the home. The home does not require a registered manager as the provider is in day to day control of the home.

This inspection was undertaken on 19 and 27 January 2016 and the first day was unannounced.

The provider and senior care staff told us how they monitored that people’s care needs were being met, reviewed care files to ensure they contained up to date information about people’s care needs and ensured people received their medicines as prescribed. They also undertook environmental checks to ensure the home was clean, tidy and well maintained. The provider said they met with people and their families regularly to gain their views on how well the home was supporting them. However, records relating to how the home undertook these checks were not completed and it was not possible to tell how the provider ensured the quality of the services provided was kept under review.

We found action had been taken to improve the training staff received to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to care for people well and protect their safety. Staff told us they had attended a number of training events including caring for people with dementia and how to assist people safely with their mobility needs. We saw evidence of this training in staff files as well as planned future training events.

People and staff told us there were sufficient staff on duty to keep people safe. At the time of the inspection there were 13 people living at the home. The staff explained the staffing levels varied throughout the week and at times they were unable to meet people’s care needs in a timely manner. During the two afternoons we visited the home we observed staff being attentive to people and spending time with them in the lounge.

People told us they enjoyed the food provided at the home and they had enough to eat and drink. We saw the food provided for the tea time meal on both days of the visit to the home. There was sufficient food prepared for the number of people living at the home.

We have made two recommendations for the home to keep staffing levels under review and to maintain records of how the home audits and reviews of the quality of the services it provides to people.