The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Greenhill Residential Care Home in Newton Abbott, Devon as good, following a recent inspection which showed improvements had been made. It was previously rated inadequate.
CQC carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of the service in April to follow up on concerns identified during the previous inspection in May 2021.
Following this inspection, the overall rating for the service has improved from inadequate to good. The service was also rated as good for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Previously, these domains had all been rated as inadequate.
Greenhill Residential Care Home provides support to people aged 65 and over with physical health needs and people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 20 people living there.
Amanda Stride, CQC’s head of adult social care inspection, said:
“I am pleased to report that leaders and staff at Greenhill Residential Care Home have taken the findings from our previous inspection on board and worked incredibly hard to turn the service around. Following the inspection, they took immediate action to ensure significant improvements were made and thoroughly embedded.
“A new and experienced senior management team has been appointed, including a registered manager and a new compliance manager. The new team developed a comprehensive quality improvement programme, setting out how they intend to audit and monitor the service, request feedback, in order to identify areas of good practice and where improvements need to be made, and share learning with staff. These systems have now been embedded and staff morale has improved significantly. The service now has enough staff to care for people and the atmosphere in the home is calm and unhurried.
“People’s care plans contain information about how they like to spend their day and advise staff how to meet people’s emotional needs in a dignified and respectful way. People’s personal preferences were also included, such as what clothes they like to wear and how they like their hair combed. One person’s care plan described how staff should respond to them when they display repetitive behaviour, and how to identify when they were trying to communicate a need, such as being in pain. Visiting health professionals told us the service had greatly improved and staff worked well with them to ensure people’s needs were met.
“Families told us the staff were kind and caring and their loved ones were so happy. Staff interacted with people daily and involved them in activities they liked to do, such as bingo games and wordsearches, which they organised in a large print format to help people read them. One person said they were moved to tears when they received a handmade rose on Valentine’s Day that staff had supported their loved one to make.
“A new maintenance person had been employed to ensure the home was safe and comfortable to live in. They voluntarily worked on Christmas day, wearing a tuxedo and serving people meals to make people feel special. The provider had also purchased new garden furniture, and a music system had been installed in the dining room, so people could listen to music they liked.
“It was a pleasure to carry out this inspection and the whole team deserve to be congratulated.”
Inspectors found the following during this inspection:
- Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs.
- People were well supported by staff who were caring, respectful and kind. People were well presented and were having their personal care needs met, including, where required, regular support with oral hygiene.
- Peoples’ care plans were tailored to the individual and gave staff clear direction of how to support people to manage risk in a safe way.
- Food was available 24 hours a day with a choice of a range of options and staff supported people to ensure they had enough to eat. Peoples’ risks relating to choking, were assessed and regularly reviewed.
- Call bell response times were checked daily to ensure people did not have to wait too long for assistance.
- Improvements had been made to infection prevention and control and the service was adhering to current UK Government guidance relating to the management of COVID-19.
- People received their medicines safely and staff administering medicines had been trained and assessed as competent to do so.
- People were supported to access healthcare services and staff worked with health professionals to ensure people’s needs were well met.
- People were well supported and cared for at the end of life. When one person passed away recently, staff arranged for a visit from a religious minister, ensured the person’s chosen music was playing and they were dressed in line with their wishes, surrounded by photographs of friends and family.
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