Delamere Lodge

Updated 30 May 2024

Date of assessment 26 June to 15 August 2024. Delamere Lodge is a care home providing personal and nursing care. It can accommodate up to 41 people. There were 35 people living at the home when we visited, some of whom are living with dementia. A responsive assessment was carried out due to risk identified in relation to medicines, infection prevention and control and governance. The assessment commenced with a site visit on 26 June 2024 and ended on 15 August 2024. We found breaches of regulation relating to infection prevention and control, management of risk, medicines and governance. Parts of the home were not clean and some items, such as cleaning products, were not stored safely. Medicines were not always safely managed; medicines records were inconsistent and incomplete. Although care was generally person centred and staff knew people well, care and risk records were not always comprehensive. We observed some positive interactions between people and staff. However, we also observed some risks to people that were not well managed and times when staff engagement was not proactive. The systems and processes in place to monitor the service were not always effective. Audits had not identified issues we found during our assessment and action plans failed to address all areas where improvement was required. There was a manager in post, who was applying to be registered with CQC, but they left while we were completing the assessment process. The management team were responsive to the issues we fed back to them and made some immediate improvements. They were investing in new governance systems to give them better oversight and streamline processes. They told us some of the omissions we found were due to the transfer of information to new systems We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 30 May 2024

People and their relatives told us they were happy with the care they received. They felt staff listened to them and were kind and caring. One person told us, “I’m looked after very well.” A relative told us, “My [family member] seems happy at Delamere and staff seem very caring, friendly and supportive to them.” Feedback about staffing levels was mixed, some relatives felt there could be more staff and some commented on a lack of engagement. This was reflected in our observations in the home, on the day we visited there was little social engagement and distraction offered by staff when people needed it. The manager told us there would usually be social activities on offer, but we visited when the activities co-ordinator was temporarily absent. People and relatives told us they could speak with staff and the manager about any concerns and there was good two-way communication. While most people and relatives we spoke with expressed that they were happy with the care, management and the home in general, our assessment found care did not always meet the expected standards.