Care Home: Abbey Grange

Similar services:

• Maple Lodge
• Heathlands
• Aston Court Nursing Home
• Breme
• Ravenhurst
• Bank House
• Inspirations
• Ashcroft Hollow Nursing Home

What the care home does well Abbey Grange is a friendly home and people are made welcome when they visit. Arrangements for making sure people get the correct care have improved and are dealt with in a more organised way. Lots of work is being done to improve the written care records which are already better then they used to be. Kitchen staff have good information about people`s dietary needs to help them make sure each person has the right food provided for them. Improved staffing ratios (including specific staff time for the laundry and activities) mean that staff have more time to spend doing things with people. People now have more chances to go out and to do enjoyable things in the home. People living at the home are getting more say in how the home is run due to a new residents` committee.Staff recruitment is being done thoroughly with the right checks being done before people start work. Staff are getting more training in essential health and safety related topics like moving and handling and first aid but also in care subjects like dementia and diabetes. The acting manager is providing clear and consistent leadership to the staff group. What the care home could do better: There have been a large number of improvements at the home in the last year and we did not find any major concerns during this positive inspection. It is essential that the owner continues to support the acting manager and staff to deliver ongoing improvements. Random inspection report Care homes for older people Name: Address: Abbey Grange 47 Venns Lane Hereford Herefordshire HR1 1DT one star adequate service 24/11/2009 The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: 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 review of the service. We call this review a ‘key’ inspection. This is a report of a random inspection of this care home. A random inspection is a short, focussed review of the service. Details of how to get other inspection reports for this care home, including the last key inspection report, can be found on the last page of this report. Lead inspector: Denise Reynolds Date: 2 0 0 4 2 0 1 0 Information about the care home Name of care home: Address: Abbey Grange 47 Venns Lane Hereford Herefordshire HR1 1DT 01432271519 01432271519 ubheedave@yahoo.co.uk Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Name of registered manager (if applicable) Mr Bissessur Ubhee Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Mrs Aileen Ubhee,Mr Bissessur Ubhee care home 29 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 29 29 29 0 dementia mental disorder, excluding learning disability or dementia old age, not falling within any other category physical disability Conditions of registration: 29 29 0 29 All residents must be at least 50 years of age on admission. That Mr Ubhee works a minimum of 30 hours a week at Abbey Grange in order to fulfil his responsibilities as the Care Manager. Date of last inspection 2 4 1 1 2 0 0 9 Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 10 Brief description of the care home Abbey Grange is situated in a residential area on the outskirts of Hereford city. There is a parking area at the front of the home and local buses pass within easy reach. The original part of the premises has been adapted for its current use. It carries a listed building status. This places some restriction for making desired alterations. The original building has been extended to provide additional, purpose-built accommodation. The home is registered to provide care to 29 people who are over 50 years of age and who have needs arising from old age, dementia or mental disorder. Information about the service is displayed in the main entrance hall of the home. A copy of the most recent inspection report is also displayed. A schedule of fees is available from the home. Additional charges are made for hairdressing, transport, escort, chiropody, toiletries and newspapers. Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 10 What we found: We (the Care Quality Commission) did an unannounced inspection at Abbey Grange. This meant that no-one at the home knew we would be arriving. One of our inspectors spent half a day at the home and looked at a cross section of things. We wanted to get a snapshot of life at the home to make sure that things are running well and that people living there are receiving a service that meets their needs. While we were at the home we met some of the people who live there and some staff. We saw some parts of the building and looked at some of the most important records such as care records and staff recruitment details. During the course of the day we were able to observe staff as they dealt with people and got a picture of day to day life. During our visit there was a friendly atmosphere in the home and lots of conversation between people living at the home and the staff. We spoke privately with a person in her room. She told us that staff are as good as you could want and that the food is varied, well cooked and nicely presented. She likes her room which we saw was clean, warm and had lots of the persons own things in it to make it homely and familiar for her. The person said she has no concerns about the home and appreciates being able to stay in her own room which she prefers to the communal rooms. She told us there are some activities to make life nicer for people. The person knows the acting manager has started residents meetings but didnt go to the recent one herself. The acting manager told us they are introducing an electronic care planning system. It was set up last week and staff did their training the day before our visit. The acting manager had already started putting information into this and showed a good understanding of how the system will help staff improve the quality of the care records they keep. We saw that one persons hospital appointment that day was already showing on the system; things like this could help staff make sure people get the care they need. In the care records we saw that there is now clearer information about the care and support people need and that health care needs are recognised and dealt with. For example we saw that in recent months one person had seen an optician, a chiropodist and a specialist nurse about their specific health need. Monthly care plan review forms showed that all of these things had been planned and followed through and all this information had been signed by the person as well as their keyworker and co-keyworker showing they had been involved in decisions. Information was available to show that certain care related risks had been considered and taken into account in planning the persons care. The person had also taken part in a staff training event about a topic related to their own health; this type of involvement of people who live in the home is very good. We saw that there is much better information now for kitchen staff about peoples dietary needs. The cook told us that they are now kept informed and given information to help them understand why some people may need special attention with the food they eat. People told us that they like the food at the home and we saw people who needed help to eat being assisted by staff. Care Homes for Older People Page 4 of 10 We learned that a new activity co-ordinator has been appointed and will start when all her checks have been done; in meantime a current member of staff is on the rota to do activities in the afternoon. Recently people celebrated Easter with an easter bonnet making contest which staff said people enjoyed a lot. Photographs of this showed people laughing and smiling. Some people had recently done some colouring. The acting manager said they had enjoyed the activity but she had some concerns because normal colouring books are not aimed at adults and she was concerned about the risk of this being demeaning. More age appropriate art activities are available and it would be worthwhile the acting manager investigating this. People are being involved in normal day to day household activities such as laying tables and preparing vegetables and we saw lovely red roses on the tables made by residents and staff using tissue paper. They were very effective and several people pointed them out to us. These had been made as part of the homes preparations for St Georges day. The acting manager showed us a log she has created to use if any adult safeguarding concerns arise. This is to help her keep track of when referrals have been sent to the local authority and when matters have been investigated and resolved. A gate leading from the garden to the car park and busy road at the front of the building is now kept secured with a padlock to reduce the risk of anyone leaving the grounds if it is not safe for them to do so. We saw that the shower room on the lower ground floor has been refurbished as a walk in wet room with new decor and fittings. This has improved the facilities a lot and people were very pleased with it. At a recent residents meeting some people had raised the need for a handrail by the shower seat and were promised this would be done. The acting manager said this was in hand. The laundry has also been transformed and is now fully tiled/painted, has a new floor, new shelving for linen and a room set aside for the storage of clean clothes (in named baskets). A member of staff now works in the laundry every morning during the week. The laundry was very clean and tidy and the member of staff was very proud of it. She showed us her work schedules for things like cleaning and tidying so if she is off other staff will know what needs to be done. A bedroom on the lower ground floor has a poor outlook and limited light due to the extension. This is no longer being used as a bedroom. It is being altered to make it into an activities room and we saw a large flat screen television waiting to be unpacked. All staff have done, or will soon be doing, a two day dementia care training course with Hereford PCTs department of mental health for older people (DMHOP). We were told that a number have also done a dementia distance learning course. The acting manager told us they are planning to use an external trainer to help them deliver the Common Induction Standards for new members of staff. Staff meetings are being held and we saw recent minutes which showed there had been open discussions and that important things were discussed; for example, staff raised the Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 10 need for two male carers not to be rostered on duty at the same time. Other topics covered included staff pay, access for staff to the homes computer to help with their training, plans for a newsletter; staff needing to keep up to date with care plans, memory boxes for residents and staff getting involved in talking to people and their families about this, the residents committee, staff roles and responsibilities, and other care related topics. In the residents meeting minutes we saw that people had asked for the sitting room curtains to be altered to let in more light; this was then discussed at a staff meeting and a member of staff given the job of making these changes. Several people living at the home mentioned this to me and were pleased to be listened to. We saw that new paperwork has been introduced for recording of shadow shifts worked by new staff. We looked at recruitment information for two recent new staff. The records were tidy and well organised. They showed that the required checks had been carried out before they started work, including police checks from the peoples country of origin as well as British CRB checks. These staff were from overseas and we saw that the manager had written to the overseas hospitals where they had worked for references and not accepted pre-prepared testimonials. This is good practice. We did find it hard to find the start dates and suggested to the acting manager that this information be recorded more prominently in each persons staff file. Both of these staff had done several training courses in important topics including first aid, moving and handling and diabetes very soon after starting work. We spoke to several staff during our visits. In general they told us that things at the home are much better than they used to be. They are enjoying working with the acting manager who has settled in well they told us. They think life for people at the home is better and there is more for them to do, one staff member listed examples like coffee mornings, going out for walks and going to the nearby cafe for coffee. They also said that one of the staff is organising a sunflower growing contest and gardening when the weather allows. Staff did mention that there are sometimes still some problems with their wages but not as much as in the past. The acting manager has settled into her role at the home and told us she would shortly be sending us her application to be registered with CQC as the registered manager of the home. What the care home does well: Abbey Grange is a friendly home and people are made welcome when they visit. Arrangements for making sure people get the correct care have improved and are dealt with in a more organised way. Lots of work is being done to improve the written care records which are already better then they used to be. Kitchen staff have good information about peoples dietary needs to help them make sure each person has the right food provided for them. Improved staffing ratios (including specific staff time for the laundry and activities) mean that staff have more time to spend doing things with people. People now have more chances to go out and to do enjoyable things in the home. People living at the home are getting more say in how the home is run due to a new residents committee. Care Homes for Older People Page 6 of 10 Staff recruitment is being done thoroughly with the right checks being done before people start work. Staff are getting more training in essential health and safety related topics like moving and handling and first aid but also in care subjects like dementia and diabetes. The acting manager is providing clear and consistent leadership to the staff group. What they could do better: 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 2. Care Homes for Older People Page 7 of 10 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, Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Care Homes for Older People Page 8 of 10 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, 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 Care Homes for Older People Page 9 of 10 Reader Information Document Purpose: Author: Audience: Further copies from: Inspection Report Care Quality Commission General Public 0870 240 7535 (telephone order line) Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. Copies of the National Minimum Standards –Care Homes for Older People can be found at www.dh.gov.uk or got 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 Helpline: Telephone: 03000 616161 Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk Web: www.cqc.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. © Care Quality Commission 2010 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in any format or medium for noncommercial purposes, provided that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. The source should be acknowledged, by showing the publication title and © Care Quality Commission 2010. Care Homes for Older People Page 10 of 10 - 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!