Latest Inspection
This is the latest available inspection report for this service, carried out on 7th June 2010. CQC 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.
For extracts, read the latest CQC inspection for Arden House.
What the care home does well There was a welcoming and friendly atmosphere within the home. The home was clean and comfortable with a well maintained back garden. People using the service have a range of social, recreational and occupational activities available to them. What the care home could do better: Written information regarding people`s care needs and the outcome of any health concerns need to be improved to ensure that these details are available and to ensure these needs are suitably monitored. The service undertook to change the system in operation to dispense medication due to the potential risks highlighted by ourselves. The written records to show medication given need improvement as do other systems to ensure that people can be confident of receiving their medication as prescribed. Other written records such as fire records and policies and procedures need to be improved to ensure that people health and welfare are suitably safeguarded. Random inspection report
Care homes for adults (18-65 years)
Name: Address: Arden House 11 Roden Avenue Kidderminster Worcestershire DY10 2RF three star excellent service 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: Andrew Spearing-Brown Date: 0 7 0 6 2 0 1 0 Information about the care home
Name of care home: Address: Arden House 11 Roden Avenue Kidderminster Worcestershire DY10 2RF 01562744056 01562864811 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Name of registered manager (if applicable) Mrs Susan Forester-Morgan Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Mr Stephen Forester-Morgan care home 8 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 0 learning disability Conditions of registration: 8 The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 8 The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care Home Only (Code PC); To service users of the following gender: Male; Whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following categories: Learning disability (LD) 8 Date of last inspection Brief description of the care home Arden House is a three storey semi-detached house situated in a quiet residential area, within easy walking distance of Kidderminster town centre. The stated aim of the home is to provide a family home environment, with a warm atmosphere, where each member of the group is encouraged to participate in the day to day running of the
Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 2 of 10 Brief description of the care home home. Arden House is registered to provide residential care for up to eight adults with a learning disability. The home is also registered for two people who may also have a physical disability and for two people who may also have mental health problems. The home is unable to offer accommodation for service users who are wheel chair dependent, and staff are not able to care for residents who have severely challenging behaviour. Whilst aiming to offer a home for life, Arden House is not registered to provide nursing care, should a residents health deteriorate. Mr Stephen ForesterMorgan is the registered proprietor of Arden House and his wife Susan is the registered care manager with day to day responsibility for running the home. For up to date information regarding fees the reader should contact the service directly. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 3 of 10 What we found:
This inspection was unannounced. Therefore nobody within the home knew that we were going to visit. The inspection was carried out by one compliance inspector over the period of one day. The last key inspection was carried out during May / June 2007. The outcome of that inspection was that we rated the service as Excellent. We carried out this inspection to ensure that the service is still maintaining this level of service. Since our last inspection we have written two Annual Service Reviews (ASR) about the service. An ASR is a document we produce taking into account information we have received about the service without carrying out a visit to the home. During our visit we looked at some records such as care records, medication records and staffing records. We had discussions with the registered provider, the registered manager and one member of staff. Many of the people who live at the home were out for the day when we visited. However we did have a brief discussion with people who returned home having gone out for the morning. Prior to our visit we requested an Annual Quality Assurance Assessment (AQAA) from the service. This document was completed by the registered manager and returned. The AQAA is an opportunity for providers of a service to tell us about areas where they are doing well and areas where they believe further development is needed. The document lacked detail under a number of different sections. In addition to the AQAA we also sent some questionnaires to the service for both people using the service and members of staff to complete. A member of staff completed the ones for residents on their behalf and we had 3 back from members of staff. Comments from these questionnaires are taken into account within this report. At the time of this inspection 7 men were living at Arden House. The home therefore had 1 vacancy. The vacancy is in a shared bedroom. The registered persons are aware that sharing a bedroom may not be what people now desires when seeking a care home placement. We were informed that one resident has moved into the home over the last 12 months. The manager informed us that the admission took place quicker than the service usually like due to the individual needing to find suitable accommodation. The person concerned had visited the home for tea prior to moving in and an assessment completed by the social worker was provided. The service normally likes people to visit at least 3 times and have a weekend visit prior to making a decision about moving in. Information about the home and the service provided is available for potential residents and their family to assist in their decision making regarding whether the home is suitable to meet care needs. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 4 of 10 The service maintains a daily plan in relation to each person using the service. These give basic details regarding the care people require. In addition the service maintains significant event records. These give details of events which have taken place although they do not give details of outcomes following any concerns or medical issue. Risk assessments were not reviewed following accidental falls. We assessed the management of medication. Although the vast majority of medication is dispensed by a pharmacy, in a monitored dosage system blister pack, the home was using a secondary dispensing method. The system used was an attempt to make the administering of medication more personal. However, it did nevertheless introduce a risk of errors taking place. As a result of us pointing out the potential risks we were informed that the system would be changed with immediate effect. We looked at the current months Medication Administration Record (MAR) sheets and found that overall they contained signatures to document that medicines were given as prescribed. We did however note that staff had failed to sign for one drug for a period of 13 evenings. We checked the blister pack and found that the medication had been removed therefore indicating that staff had administered it as prescribed. The home had a small number of boxed or bottles medicines. The date of opening was not recorded on these items therefore we were unable to carry out an audit. We saw a box of pain killers. We counted the number of tablets signed as given against the number of tablets remaining and found that the figures did not balance. The manager informed us that some were returned to the pharmacy however the returns book was not available to demonstrate when this happened and the amount returned. On the questionnaires completed on behalf of residents we asked what the home does well. We were told that people like the meals, trips, activities such as swimming, holidays and day placements. At the time of our inspection some of the residents were out doing different things within the community. We did however speak to some residents on their return from going to the fish and chip shop for lunch. People told us that they enjoy doing things in the home as well as going out. We were informed that people enjoy the holidays. We had a look around the home. The front lounge is well furnished and appears very homely. Another small siting area is provided at the rear of the home. This smaller room contains a large flat screen television and has a good view over the back garden. We were told that it is planned to replace a bath in the foreseeable future. We were shown a recently refurbished wet room. The back garden is well maintained. On a patio area is an aviary containing love birds. The garden itself has a large pond with fish in it. There is a small vegetable area as well as some raised flower beds. We were told that the home has a swimming pool that can be put up in the garden although this was not out at the time of our visit. The dining room is in the centre of the home and is sufficient in size to sit everybody at one time. People told us that they would speak to staff or the manager if they were unhappy about anything within the home. We saw a pictorial complaints procedure however we also saw reference to the National Care Standards Commission who were a previous regulator.
Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 5 of 10 Within the AQAA the manager told us that the service had not received any complaints over the previous 12 months. We have recently received allegations in relation to the home which were similar to information received by the local authority. The manager informed us that they were made aware of some allegations during a recent visit from a social worker. As far as we are aware no grounds to allegations regarding people involved with the home were found. We were informed that staff were provided with information regarding safeguarding and the arrangements within the local authority for reporting. The home has a staff team of three support workers, all of whom are trained to National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) standard. The home has no wakeful night staff therefore the registered provider and manager who live on site are on call. While we were in the home the registered persons, a support worker and a domestic were on duty. During July 2009 the service carried out their own quality assurance audit. The audit did not identify any areas requiring improvement. No further self assessment has taken place. The registered provider informed us that he is appointee for people using the service in relation to benefit payments. A system is in place managed by the provider whereby money is transfered to people accounts. The system was not audited as part of this inspection. Within our last key inspection report (2007) we commented on the fact that a recommendation from a fire safety officer in 2006 regarding the fitting of intumescent strips had not happened. During this visit we saw these strips on doors. Towards the end of 2009 we received a copy of a letter to the service from the fire authority. This letter brought to the attention of the registered persons that the fire alarm had not been serviced since 2005. We saw a document during this visit demonstrating that a service of the alarm has now taken place. We were assured that regular testing of the fire alarm takes place however the records did not evidence this. The last recorded weekly check of the fire alarm took place in January 2010 therefore 5 months ago. We noticed that doors were held open by means of wooden wedges. The registered manager told us that the fire officer had agreed that they could be used when management are in the home. This discussion was not recorded anywhere and no risk assessment existed. We did not view any environmental risk assessments such as one regarding staff carrying washing down to the laundry in the cellar. The manager informed us that she is aware that work needs to be done on risk assessments. We were assured that a hydraulic chair is no longer used. This piece of equipment did not have a suitable service history which would be needed if it were brought back into use. On the AQAA we ask for details about policies and procedures within the home and for the date when they were last reviewed. The registered manager recorded that most of these were reviewed during either 2009 or 2010. No information was entered regarding access to files by residents. We asked whether a policy existed. We were shown an old policy which made reference to guidance in use prior to the current regulations. The
Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 6 of 10 registered manager acknowledged that this policy needed to be updated. What the care home does well: 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 Adults (18-65 years) 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 Adults (18-65 years) 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 1 6 A review of care planning systems should take place to ensure they are sufficently robust and up to date regarding peoples individual care needs. A review of medication procedures including administration practices and systems to enable audits to be completed should take place. Fire safety records and risk assessment should be in place and up to date. 2 20 3 42 Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) 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 Adults (18-65 years) 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 Adults (18-65 years) 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!
