Inspection on 04/08/09 for Flaxpits House

What follows are excerpts from this inspection report. For more information read the full report on the next tab.

What the care home does well

There is a consistent, stable staff team at the home who are committed to providing a good service to those who live at the home and advocate well for the rights of people who live at Flaxpits House. The home is located within a pleasant location, it is well situated for local amenities, the home is comfortable, well furnished, homely and well maintained, staff have a `sense of pride` in the facilities provided. People are supported well to make decisions and choices that affect their life, care planning and associated records are well written and kept up to date as required.

What has improved since the last inspection?

During our last to the service we were concerned to note that a ceiling hoist was being used with no assessment to demonstrate that all safety factors had been considered. A requirement was made that a risk assessment must be developed for the use of this ceiling hoist. At this visit we found that the hoist is not used at this current time as the person for who it was obtained has since left the home, a senior member of staff we spoke with, and the manager, confirmed that should this piece of equipment be used in the future staff would be re trained in the use of this aid, professional occupational therapy advice would be sought and a risk assessment would be completed, in line with the individuals assessed need as would be recorded in their care plan. The home have ensured that licence agreements are in place for all of the people who live at the home in order that they have full information about their rights and the terms and conditions of their placement. Recording has improved within the minutes of senior management meetings, however these notes would be enhanced if they were typed. Generally language within daily notes has improved, however the home should consider the use of terms such as `baby monitor` and `cot sides` and usealternatives such as `listening monitor` and `bed sides`.

What the care home could do better:

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) risk assessments should be reviewed in order to ensure that accurate information is in place. The sample page of staff signatures for those who are trained and authorised to administer medication at the home should be reviewed and updated. This is to reflect the current and correct staffing arrangements at the home and provide an up to date of staff signatures. In order to locate staffing information and make the information within files more accessible it is recommended that consideration is given to the reorganisation of staff files. This would give the files a format and structure. Staff training records should also be reviewed and updated in order to fully reflect the training that has been undertaken by staff employed at the home. Upon a review of fire training we found that were some staff who had not received sufficient amounts of fire training/instruction, this is an important area. It is required that staff must receive this instruction/training in order to ensure that they are fully aware of their role and responsibility and the expectations placedupon them should a fire emergency occur. During our visit we found that the fire door leading into the lounge door did not close effectively upon the activation of the fire alarm. It is required that this fire door is repaired in order to ensure its closure and assurance that is will be effective should a fire emergency occur. The Manager contacted the contractor whilst we were on site in order to action this requirement.