Care Home: Alma Green Care Home

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Annual service review Name of Service: Alma Green Care Home The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: two star good service 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 7 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 We do an annual service review when there has been no key inspection of the service in the last 12 months. It does not involve a visit to the service but is a summary of new information given to us, or collected by us, since the last key inspection or annual service review.   Has this annual service review changed our opinion of the service?   No You should read the last key inspection report for this service to get a full picture of how well outcomes for the people using the service are being met. The date by which we will do a key inspection: Name of inspector: Denise Upton Date of this annual service review: 1 8 1 1 2 0 0 9 Annual Service Review Page 1 of 7 Information about the service Address of service: Alma Green Hall Green Upholland Skelmersdale West Lancashire WN8 0PA 01695622504 01695622504 MBOWKER5@AOL.COM Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address:   Name of registered provider(s): Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : old age, not falling within any other category Conditions of registration: Cranford Care Homes Limited Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 0 29 The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care home only - Code PC to service users of the following gender: Either whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following categories: Old age, not falling within any other category - Code OP The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 29 Have there been any changes in the ownership, management or the No service’s registration details in the last 12 months? If yes, what have they been: Date of last key inspection: Date of last annual service review (if applicable): Brief description of the service Alma Green is located in the small village of Up Holland, which is part of the town of Skelmersdale. There is easy access to local community services such as shops, library, pharmacy, post office and local bus routes. The home is registered to provide 24 hour personal care for up to twenty-nine older adults of either sex, over the age of sixty-five. Alma Green is purpose built and Annual Service Review Page 2 of 7 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 7 privately owned by Cranford Care Homes Limited. Responsibility for the day-to-day running of the home is that of the registered manager, Joanne Bowker. The home is arranged over two floors accessed by a passenger lift. There are twentyfive single bedrooms and two double rooms suitable for anyone choosing to share bedroom accommodation. All have en-suite facilities. Five small communal sitting rooms are available, one of which is a designated smoking lounge. Information is available to prospective residents in a Service Users Guide. This tells prospective residents about the home and the services and facilities provided. There is also a Statement of Purpose. This also gives details about Alma Green Care Home but is aimed at a wider audiance. An individaul copy of the Service User Guide is given to each individual resident and the Statement of Purpose is made available to anybody who wishes to read it. The current fee for residential care at Alma Green care home is four hundred and thirty five pounds a week. Annual Service Review Page 3 of 7 Service update since the last key inspection or annual service review: What did we do for this annual service review? The Annual Quality Assurance Assessment (AQAA) that was sent to us by the service. The AQAA is a self-assessment that focuses on how well outcomes are being met for people using the service. It also gave us some numerical information about the service. Surveys returned to us by 14 people living at the home Surveys returned to us by 15 members of staff. Information we have about how the service has managed any complaints. What the service has told us about things that have happened in the service, these are called notifications and are a legal requirement. The previous key inspection and the results of any other visits that we have made to the service in the last 12 months. What other people have told us about the service. What has this told us about the service? The service sent us their annual quality assurance assessment (AQAA) when we asked for it. It was clear and detailed and gave us all the information we asked for. Information within the AQAA confirmed that there continues to be a good system in place to make sure that people are properly assessed before they are admitted to the home. This helps to make sure that a prospective residents current needs and requirements are known, so that the registered manager can make an informed decision as to whether the level of support and assistance required could be met by staff at the home. The AQAA also told us that residents health and personal care needs are well met, that there is a good relationship between residents, staff and relatives and that residents are encouraged and supported to be as independent as possible, whilst acknowledging the need to make sure that residents are, as far as possible, kept safe. Staff training is given high priority to make sure that there is a skilled and knowledgeable staff team. This helps to ensure that a high quality of care and support is provided for residents. The vast majority of staff working at the home have now achieved an National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Care. A number of staff have also been successful in attaining higher, more advanced levels of this award. The small minority of staff that do not hold this qualification are currently undertaking this important training. Once this is completed, all of the care staff team will have achieved a national recognised qualification in care. This means that staff have had their work practice assessed and have been deemed competent in their work role. This is commendable and shows that staff are keen to learn in order to enhance their own personal development as well as enabling them to provide a good service to residents Annual Service Review Page 4 of 7 accommodated. As well as NVQ training, staff are also required to undertake a variety of other essential training such as protection of vulnerable adults training and health and safety training. This helps to keep people living at the home safe and protected. Making sure that peoples needs and expectations are met is also considered important. There are various ways that residents, relatives and other interested people can make their views known. Residents meetings take place on a regular basis. This provides opportunity for residents and staff to get together more formally to exchange ideas and to make future plans. There is a large print monthly newsletter that includes news about the home, residents birthdays and staff qualification achievements. Residents can contribute to the newsletter so that people are kept informed. There are also resident and relative questionnaires that are periodically provided. All comments and the outcomes of the questionnaires are taken seriously and we were told that any required actions, as a result of the surveys, are attended to straight away. Residents are also enabled to say what they think through informal daily dialogue with staff. The importance of this cannot be under estimated. Some residents definitely prefer to sit and chat with staff rather than involving themselves in more formal methods to find out what people think about living at the home. As a result of listening to people, positive changes have been made. This has included, involving residents, during the regular residents meetings, to have their say about what they would like to see on the menu so that individual likes and dislikes were known. This has enable individual personal preferences to be incorporated into the menus, increase choice and helped to make sure that residents are provided with meals that they like and enjoy. A periodic fish and chip supper is now arranged and nearly every evening most residents also enjoy a sherry, larger or wine with lemonade and a packet of crisps. In addition, suggestions made by residents for trips out were arranged. To date three trips to destinations chosen by residents have taken place that included some relatives also enjoying these outings. This shows that the views and wishes of people living at the home are listened to and acted upon. 14 service users completed CQC surveys, with some containing comments from relatives. Generally these provided very positive feedback about Alma Green. One person told us, The care in the home is excellent - both personal and medical. I was very poorly a few months ago when I first came out of hospital and I was looked after very well, I cannot thank the home enough. I was given individual care and attention throughout. Another person explained, Ive only been at the home since **** at first it was very strange for me to settle, but now I can call it my home as all the staff are lovely, helpful and caring. Another resident simply told us that The home is excellent. Relatives also made some comments on the surveys. One relative wrote, The home ensures that each resident is happy and looked after well, with entertainment and trips out. The home provides good care for its residents. Another relative told us, All the staff should receive a much higher salary. They have a difficult and very responsible job. They carry out so many tasks - social work, medical, personal care, it is physically demanding. These are just a few of the tasks, there are many more. Although comments in the main were very positive, a number of suggestions mainly Annual Service Review Page 5 of 7 from relatives were expressed. One person told us, I think the residents would benefit from some weekly gentle exercise classes, which may keep them fit and mobile for longer. Also a befriender would be good, they could chat to the residents who love to talk about the past. Many older people do not have good short term memorys but their long term memory is very good. There is also a very large garden at the back of the home. It would be good if there were paved pathways so that residents could enjoy the garden more during the summer months. Although a lot of time and effort has been spent in devising new menus that take into account residents preferences, two residents told us that they would like more choice in food. Comments from staff were equally positive with all staff that completed a survey telling us that a high quality of care was provided at the home, the home was a happy place and that staff worked well together for the benefit of residents. One person replied in answer to the question, What does the home do well told us, Provides good quality care, support and has a good family atmosphere for residents and visitors who live or visit us at Alma Green. The home works well as a team, does well with activities, the residents are happy and well looked after. Another member of staff said In the **** years I have worked at Alma Green I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a well run home with the highest quality of care. The staff, seniors and manager all work really well as part of a team. The home is safe, warm and a friendly environment. All the staff are qualified and have a good rapport with the residents as well as their family and friends. We all work hard to keep the home running as smooth as possible by meeting the residents individual needs. The AQAA showed that no complaints had been made to the home, the Commission has also received no any complaints or concerns about the service. The registered manager at Alma Green Care Home continues to let us know about anything that affects the health or welfare of people living at the home. The notifications show us that the registered manager manages issues well. We looked at the information in the AQAA and other information we have received over the last twelve months and our judgement is that the home is still providing a good service to the people that live there. What are we going to do as a result of this annual service review? We will continue to monitor the service. We can inspect the service at any time if we have concerns about the quality of the service or the safety of the people using the service. Annual Service Review Page 6 of 7 Reader Information Document Purpose: Author: Audience: Further copies from: Annual service review CQC General Public 0870 240 7535 (national contact centre) Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. The content of which can be found on our website. 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 copy of the findings in a different format or language please contact our helpline or go to our website. Copyright © (2009) Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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. 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