Inspection on 04/10/06 for Abbendon Nursing Home

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What the care home does well

What has improved since the last inspection?

All new staff are employed at the home are having a POVA first check carried out. This means that the home is checking that staff are safe to work with vulnerable people at the earliest opportunity. The manager has worked hard to develop staff training. Training delivered so far has included manual handling, Fire safety, food hygiene, First Aid, Health and Safety, COSSH, Abuse awareness and medication training. Most staff have almost completed mandatory (essential) training. Staff are receiving " one to one " time with a senior member of staff. This gives staff and management the opportunity to discuss progress and training needs. Staff meetings are being held more regularly which enables staff to feel involved in the progress of the service. A local pharmacist carried out a Pharmacy inspection in September of this year. The service has acted on his recommendations which means that medications are being managed more safely which helps to reduce the risk of a mistake occurring. Seven staff are undertaking NVQ qualifications in care which means staff will have better skills to care for the residents. The manager has developed an induction pack and training for new staff which is specific to the needs of the residents who live in the home.

What the care home could do better:

Staff have the skills to promote healing of wounds however this could be further enhanced by using wound mapping techniques and photographs to monitor improvements. Although staff try hard to promote residents dignity, this could be further enhanced by providing dining facilities for residents rather than taking meals in the lounge or their bedrooms.Although medications are generally managed safely, staff should ensure that they check the Controlled drugs stock on arrival by opening packets to make sure that the amounts receive tally with the label. Staff should also use two signatures for handwritten instructions as evidence that instructions have been double-checked. Staff should also monitor the temperature of the medication room to ensure that it does not rise above 25 degrees. Activities records could be developed as evidence of who has participated in which activity and any progress made or interest shown. The provider should support the cook to follow through her intention to use moulds for blended meals so that residents can recognise what food they are being offered. Although some staff have undertaken abuse awareness training some staff have not. The manager intends to organise further training in the near future and this intention must be followed through. Although not accessible to residents, the piece of land at the side of the home should be cleared rather than using it to store building materials and other waste. The manager has` worked hard to develop an induction pack for new staff but this should be compared against the national standards for induction for care staff which have been issued by TOPPS. Although a lot of training has happened staff who work at the home still need to undertake training on dementia care and managing challenging behaviour. Plans must be developed to address this. The provider must consider the manager`s workload if they expect the service to develop further as her role during the visit was observed to be too diverse to enable this to happen. The manager and provider should consider developing Quality Assurance further by seeking the opinions of GPS, CPNs and other Health acre professionals in surveys. This information must than be formulated into a report and made available to residents representatives. Clear audits trails must be developed for those residents that the home support to manage their money. A gas safety test must be carried out once the new boiler has been fitted. Generally policies viewed were up to date however some Health and Safety policies were outdated and must be reviewed.Abbendon Nursing Home DS0000017215.V311173.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 9The cook has worked hard to organise the kitchen and to ensure that it is run in line with current legislation and good practise. The provider should support her enthusiasm by providing a kitchen assistant who does not deliver personal care to the residents. This would promote good practice further and reduce the risk of cross infection occurring.