Inspection on 07/01/09 for Amblecote House

This inspection was carried out on 7th January 2009.

CSCI found this care home to be providing an Excellent service.

The inspector made no statutory requirements on the home as a result of this inspection and there were no outstanding actions from the previous inspection report.

Other inspections for this house

Amblecote House 27/02/07

Amblecote House 11/01/06

Amblecote House 15/06/05

Amblecote House 20/01/05

Amblecote House 26/08/04

Amblecote House 15/03/04

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Inspirations

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Extracts from inspection reports are licensed from CQC, this page was updated on 13/03/2009.

Inspecting for better lives Key inspection report Care homes for older people Name: Address: Amblecote House King William Street Amblecote Nr Stourbridge West Midlands DY8 4ES     The quality rating for this care home is:   three star excellent service A quality rating is our assessment of how well a care home, agency or scheme is meeting the needs of the people who use it. We give a quality rating following a full assessment of the service. We call this a ‘key’ inspection. Lead inspector: Christine Lancashire     Date: 0 7 0 1 2 0 0 9 This is a report of an inspection where we looked at how well this care home is meeting the needs of people who use it. There is a summary of what we think this service does well, what they have improved on and, where it applies, what they need to do better. We use the national minimum standards to describe the outcomes that people should experience. National minimum standards are written by the Department of Health for each type of care service. After the summary there is more detail about our findings. The following table explains what you will see under each outcome area. Outcome area (for example Choice of home) These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. that people have said are important to them: They reflect the things This box tells you the outcomes that we will always inspect against when we do a key inspection. This box tells you any additional outcomes that we may inspect against when we do a key inspection. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: This box tells you our opinion of what we have looked at in this outcome area. We will say whether it is excellent, good, adequate or poor. Evidence: This box describes the information we used to come to our judgement. Copies of the National Minimum Standards – Care Homes for Older People can be found at www.dh.gov.uk or bought from The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering from the Stationery Office is also available: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop The Commission for Social Care Inspection aims to: • • • • Put the people who use social care first Improve services and stamp out bad practice Be an expert voice on social care Practise what we preach in our own organisation Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 26 Reader Information Document Purpose Author Audience Further copies from Copyright Inspection report CSCI General public 0870 240 7535 (telephone order line) Copyright © (2009) Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, free of charge, in any format or medium provided that it is not used for commercial gain. This consent is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and on proviso that it is not used in a derogatory manner or misleading context. The material should be acknowledged as CSCI copyright, with the title and date of publication of the document specified. www.csci.org.uk Internet address Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 26 Information about the care home Name of care home: Address: Amblecote House King William Street Amblecote Nr Stourbridge West Midlands DY8 4ES 01384813285 01384813286 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Name of registered manager (if applicable) Ms Mercedes Holness Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 dementia old age, not falling within any other category Additional conditions: All recommendations made by the West Midlands Fire Services detailed in their report dated 2 April 2003 to be met by the 30 September 2003. All requirements contained within the registration report of 6,9, and 12 December 2002 are met within the timescales contained within the action plan agreed between Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and the National Care Standards Commission. By the 30 September 2003, all radiators and exposed pipework in bathrooms and within areas accessed by service users shall not exceed 43 deg C in the interim following risk assessments, strategies are implemented to safeguard service users. Daycare provision must not encroach on the facilities, staffing and services, provided to residential service users Date of last inspection Care Homes for Older People Page 4 of 26 care home 36 Over 65 0 25 11 0 Brief description of the care home Amblecote House is owned by Dudley Local Authority and managed by their Social Services Department. Registered to provide residential care services for 36 people over the age of 65, it is situated within the local community, close to the Brierley Hill and Stourbridge shopping centres and is accessible by public transport. The building provides single bedroom accommodation, on one floor, and is shaped in a square providing two small inner garden areas, one of which is lain to lawn, the other with shrubs and flowerbeds. Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 26 Summary This is an overview of what we found during the inspection. The quality rating for this care home is: Our judgement for each outcome: three star excellent service Choice of home Health and personal care Daily life and social activities Complaints and protection Environment Staffing Management and administration peterchart Poor Adequate Good Excellent How we did our inspection: We visited this home on a weekday without telling anyone that we would be arriving. The purpose of the visit was to see how the home is meeting key National Minimum Standards. Before the visit we had received information from the manager about the running of the home and the plans for development. At the inspection we spoke to the manager and met several members of staff and people who live at the home. We looked round the building and into several bedrooms. We looked at the records which the home is required to keep and these include records about the peoples needs and preferences, safety, menus, staff rotas, medication, staff recruitment and training, complaints and minutes of meetings. We looked at the systems which the manager uses for monitoring Care Homes for Older People Page 6 of 26 the homes performance and at the results of questionnaires completed by people who live there. We used this information to write this report. What the care home does well: What has improved since the last inspection? What they could do better: The manager plans to continue to develop the homes quality assurance system. Representatives of senior management should make monthly visits to the home to report on its conduct. This should help to ensure that the high standards can be Care Homes for Older People Page 8 of 26 maintained. If you want to know what action the person responsible for this care home is taking following this report, you can contact them using the details set out on page 4. The report of this inspection is available from our website www.csci.org.uk. You can get printed copies from enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk or by telephoning our order line –0870 240 7535. Care Homes for Older People Page 9 of 26 Details of our findings Contents Choice of home (standards 1 - 6) Health and personal care (standards 7 - 11) Daily life and social activities (standards 12 - 15) Complaints and protection (standards 16 - 18) Environment (standards 19 - 26) Staffing (standards 27 - 30) Management and administration (standards 31 - 38) Outstanding statutory requirements Requirements and recommendations from this inspection Care Homes for Older People Page 10 of 26 Choice of home These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People are confident that the care home can support them. This is because there is an accurate assessment of their needs that they, or people close to them, have been involved in. This tells the home all about them and the support they need. People who stay at the home only for intermediate care, have a clear assessment that includes a plan on what they hope for and want to achieve when they return home. People can decide whether the care home can meet their support and accommodation needs. This is because they, or people close to them, have been able to visit the home and have got full, clear, accurate and up to date information about the home. If they decide to stay in the home they know about their rights and responsibilities because there is an easy to understand contract or statement of terms and conditions between them and the care home that includes how much they will pay and what the home provides for the money. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. People who are considering moving into this home are provided with the necessary information to make an informed choice. Assessments and visits to the home ensure that people know, before they move in, that their needs can be met by the home. Evidence: The manager told us that comprehensive assessments are carried out on all people who may be moving into the home prior to admission. People may visit the home to sample the atmosphere before moving in. If they are unable to do so, their representatives are welcomed. We sampled three peoples files and found assessments and copies of letters sent confirming that the home could meet their needs. The home consults members of the persons family, where applicable, and the files which we examined contained detailed information about peoples life history, personality and likes and dislikes. Care Homes for Older People Page 11 of 26 Evidence: The home also provides a respite service and people using this also have their needs assessed prior to visiting. Several permanent service users chose Amblecote House after being provided with periods of respite care. Care Homes for Older People Page 12 of 26 Health and personal care These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People’s health, personal and social care needs are met. The home has a plan of care that the person, or someone close to them, has been involved in making. If they take medicine, they manage it themselves if they can. If they cannot manage their medicine, the care home supports them with it, in a safe way. People’s right to privacy is respected and the support they get from staff is given in a way that maintains their dignity. If people are approaching the end of their life, the care home will respect their choices and help them feel comfortable and secure. They, and people close to them, are reassured that their death will be handled with sensitivity, dignity and respect, and take account of their spiritual and cultural wishes. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience excellent quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Peoples health, personal and social needs are set out in a care plan so that they can be met by staff. People are treated with respect and their privacy and dignity are maintained. They are protected by the homes practices in relation to the storage and administration of medication. Evidence: We sampled the files for three people who live in the home and found that they contained care plans which had been drawn up using the information in the assessments. These provide detailed information for care staff about how each person needs and prefers to be supported. The plans which we saw had been reviewed on a monthly basis and staff had signed the records. Some had been updated to include new instructions as conditions had changed. The manager told us that senior staff oversee the key workers in this process to make sure that all reviews take place. We saw records of health needs on each of the sampled files. These included appointments and visits by a variety of health professionals. Nutritional screening is Care Homes for Older People Page 13 of 26 Evidence: undertaken on admission and the manager told us that there has been a reduction in falls and hospital admissions since this has been introduced. We saw records of peoples weight and appropriate action being taken to ensure that people have a healthy diet which meets their needs. The home has suitable facilities for the safe storage of medication. The manager told us that senior staff are trained in the safe management and administration of medication. We sampled the records of the medication which has been provided to people and these were well organised, up to date and appropriately completed. The manager told us that the key workers take the lead role in promoting peoples well being. We saw many examples of staff making great efforts to do this. Earlier this year, the home organised a veterans day presentation of veteran badges of honour for those who had served in the second world war in various ways. This showed that they are still valued and respected. We saw information for staff about what each person prefers to be called. We spoke with several people who live in the home and they all complimented the staff. Most of them particularly liked the friendliness of the staff. They all said that they are cared for well and some compared the home favourably to other homes they had lived in. We saw staff interacting with people. They showed patience, treated people with respect and presented as cheerful. They knocked on doors and waited for a reply before entering. One person told us, I couldnt be treated better if I was the queen. Care Homes for Older People Page 14 of 26 Daily life and social activities These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: Each person is treated as an individual and the care home is responsive to his or her race, culture, religion, age, disability, gender and sexual orientation. They are part of their local community. The care home supports people to follow personal interests and activities. People are able to keep in touch with family, friends and representatives. They are as independent as they can be, lead their chosen lifestyle and have the opportunity to make the most of their abilities. People have nutritious and attractive meals and snacks, at a time and place to suit them. There are no additional outcomes. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience excellent quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Peoples lifestyles in the home match their preferences and suitable activities are arranged. They are encouraged to maintain significant relationships with people in the community and they receive a choice of nutritious meals which meet their needs and take account of their preferences. Evidence: We saw photographs around the home of service users enjoying various celebrations, activities and trips. These include photos of people wearing Easter bonnets which they had made, the Harvest table and a Hawaiian evening, where staff were wearing grass skirts. Some people told us that they enjoy the daily games of bingo in the large activities room. Staff arrange a variety of activities at the weekends including singing, reminiscing, face painting and parties. Several people who live in the home told us that they enjoy the weekend activities. We saw photographs of the veterans day presentations, already mentioned in this report. The home maintains links with people serving overseas and we saw letters of thanks for gifts which had been sent from the home. The residents meeting minutes show that people have enjoyed a variety of outings during the past year, including trips to garden centres, the safari park and the theatre. There are two cats in the home and a caged bird. On the morning of the Care Homes for Older People Page 15 of 26 Evidence: inspection some people were in the small living rooms and others had chosen to be in their own rooms, where they had personal possessions, including televisions. People told us that they liked to be able to choose where they spent their time. Some said that they go out to local shops and pubs. The home operates an open door policy for visitors and there were several in the home on the day of the inspection. Meals are served in the dining rooms on each unit. The menus are displayed on a notice board and show a varied choice of meals. Peoples needs and preferences are known and this includes catering for people with medical needs. Efforts have been made to raise standards of nutrition and hydration in the home, with changes to the menus and a healthy eating party earlier in the year. The residentsmeeting minutes show that food is a topic for discussion and people are asked to put forward ideas for what they would like to eat. People are also asked for their comments after meals as part of the quality assurance system. The homes catering scored 5 stars from environmental services in August 08 and also has a gold award. This means that there is healthy food, good food safety practices and good environmental practices. The food provided to us was well presented, well balanced and healthy options were available. Care Homes for Older People Page 16 of 26 Complaints and protection These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: If people have concerns with their care, they or people close to them know how to complain. Any concern is looked into and action taken to put things right. The care home safeguards people from abuse and neglect and takes action to follow up any allegations. People’s legal rights are protected, including being able to vote in elections. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. There are good arrangements to ensure that people are protected, including the arrangements for handling complaints. Evidence: The home has policies and procedures for managing complaints and protection of vulnerable adults. The records show the manager and a senior member of staff have received training in managing and responding to complaints. The complaints record contains details of complaints which have been received and the way they were resolved. There have been no com paints since the last report was written. People who live in the home told us that they would tell a member of staff or the manager if there was anything that did not suit them. One said I would tell the manager and she would sort it out. Several people also said that they could not imagine needing to make a complaint. There have been no reports of concerns in respect of the protection of service users. The homes records show that staff have received training in recognising signs of possible abuse and knowing what action to take. We saw records of this training on sampled staff files. Care Homes for Older People Page 17 of 26 Environment These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People stay in a safe and well-maintained home that is homely, clean, pleasant and hygienic. People stay in a home that has enough space and facilities for them to lead the life they choose and to meet their needs. The home makes sure they have the right specialist equipment that encourages and promotes their independence. Their room feels like their own, it is comfortable and they feel safe when they use it. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. People live in a homely, clean and safe environment which meets their needs. Evidence: Amblecote House is a purpose built home with four separate units. Each has its own lounge, dining room and bathing facilities. There are suitable adaptations, where applicable, such as handrails along corridors and grab rails and assisted hoists in toilets and bathrooms. The home also has its own well-equipped salon that is used by the visiting hairdresser. The large activities room is large enough to everyone who lives in the home and has a very large television screen. We toured the building and found that all areas were clean and free from unpleasant odours. It was a very cold day and was snowing, but the rooms were cosy and warm. The manager has secured the services of workers who maintain the parks to keep the garden tidy. She told us that people enjoy the garden when the weather is warm. Some enjoy growing vegetables and plants. There are suitable infection control systems for the protection of people who live in the home, staff and visitors. These include the provision of gloves and aprons for staff and sluice facilities. The laundry is well equipped and there is a separate ironing area, with Care Homes for Older People Page 18 of 26 Evidence: compartments for each persons clothes. Care Homes for Older People Page 19 of 26 Staffing These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People have safe and appropriate support as there are enough competent staff on duty at all times. They have confidence in the staff at the home because checks have been done to make sure that they are suitable to care for them. Their needs are met and they are cared for by staff who get the relevant training and support from their managers. There are no additional outcomes. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. The people who live in this home are cared for by sufficient numbers of staff who are well trained and competent to do their jobs. They are protected by the homes recruitment practices. Evidence: We saw that the rotas show suitable numbers of staff undertaking a variety of roles, so that the people in the home can be supported in an appropriate way. There is a standard procedure for recruiting and checking staff and the staff files which we sampled showed that this had been followed. There have been few recent recruits due to the stability of the team, but there is a suitable induction process in place for new recruits. Sampled files contained evidence that staff had been provided with opportunities to attend a variety of training courses. We also saw the homes record of training for all staff. This showed that they have undertaken new and refresher training in a variety of areas which are necessary. These include health and safety courses such as food safety, adult protection and infection control and courses which are related to medical conditions such as diabetes and strokes. The records show that 78 of staff have achieved level 2 NVQ and 25 of staff are Care Homes for Older People Page 20 of 26 Evidence: trained in dementia care. The manager told us that she plans to continue with the mandatory training and to have 95 of staff trained in dementia care. Care Homes for Older People Page 21 of 26 Management and administration These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People have confidence in the care home because it is led and managed appropriately. People control their own money and choose how they spend it. If they or someone close to them cannot manage their money, it is managed by the care home in their best interests. The environment is safe for people and staff because appropriate health and safety practices are carried out. People get the right support from the care home because the manager runs it appropriately with an open approach that makes them feel valued and respected. The people staying at the home are safeguarded because it follows clear financial and accounting procedures, keeps records appropriately and ensures their staff understand the way things should be done. They get the right care because the staff are supervised and supported by their managers. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. People live in a well managed home which is run in their best interests and where there are good systems for maintaining the quality of care. Their financial interests are safeguarded and their health, safety and welfare is promoted and protected. Evidence: The registered manager is appropriately qualified and has many years experience of running this home. She is closely involved in day-to-day hands-on management of the home. We saw that the home seeks feedback from people in the home, their relatives and professional visitors and the manager has developed this system further during the past year so that a record is also kept of peoples comments after meals. We also saw a system of checking the homes performance against the national minimum standards. The manager told us that she plans to develop this further. The home should receive monthly visits from representatives of the senior management but the Care Homes for Older People Page 22 of 26 Evidence: records in the home show only one report of such as visit in 2008 and only two in 2007. The manager told us that senior managers are in touch by telephone and so attend meetings of home managers. However, the visits are an important part of the quality assurance system and should take place. The majority of peoples personal allowances are managed on their behalf by the home. We saw that detailed records are kept of all transactions and receipts are kept when purchases are made on their behalf. The manager provided dates of the servicing and checking of equipment in the home. We sampled the records and found that checks are taking place on a regular basis. We saw risk assessments for people, tasks and the building and records of fire equipment tests. We saw that staff have attended a variety of safety related training during the past year. Care Homes for Older People Page 23 of 26 Are there any outstanding requirements from the last inspection? Yes £ No R Outstanding statutory requirements These are requirements that were set at the previous inspection, but have still not been met. They say what the registered person had to do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Care Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Care Homes for Older People Page 24 of 26 Requirements and recommendations from this inspection: Immediate requirements: These are immediate requirements that were set on the day we visited this care home. The registered person had to meet these within 48 hours. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Statutory requirements These requirements set out what the registered person must do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Care Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must do this within the timescales we have set. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Recommendations These recommendations are taken from the best practice described in the National Minimum Standards and the registered person(s) should consider them as a way of improving their service. No. Refer to Standard Good Practice Recommendations 1 33 The responsible individual should make sure that they or a nominated person visits the home at least once a month and compiles a report of their findings as per Regulation 26. Care Homes for Older People Page 25 of 26 Helpline: Telephone: 0845 015 0120 or 0191 233 3323 Textphone: 0845 015 2255 or 0191 233 3588 Email: enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk Web: www.csci.org.uk We want people to be able to access this information. If you would like a summary in a different format or language please contact our helpline or go to our website. Copyright © (2009) Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, free of charge, in any format or medium provided that it is not used for commercial gain. This consent is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and on proviso that it is not used in a derogatory manner or misleading context. The material should be acknowledged as CSCI copyright, with the title and date of publication of the document specified. Care Homes for Older People Page 26 of 26 - Please note that this information is included on www.bestcarehome.co.uk under license from the regulator. Re-publishing this information is in breach of the terms of use of that website. Discrete codes and changes have been inserted throughout the textual data shown on the site that will provide incontrovertable proof of copying in the event this information is re-published on other websites. The policy of www.bestcarehome.co.uk is to use all legal avenues to pursue such offenders, including recovery of costs. You have been warned!