Care Home: Ash Hall Care Home

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What the care home does well People who live in the home and their representatives are generally happy with the care and services provided to them. "I am more than happy with my relative`s care - I am delirious" "The home is wonderful" "My father is very well looked after" "Oh its wonderful here I like it very much." There is a good staff moral at the home and staff feel supported by the manager saying that she is "approachable" "helpful" and "supportive". Staff are respectful toward people who live in the home and have a good rapport with them. Peoples` dignity is promoted. What the care home could do better: The staff recruitment procedure is not robust and we left an immediate requirement thatstaff must not be employed without the service having first received a satisfactory CRB or POVA first check. This is to ensure that people who work at the home are suitable to do so and people who live in the home are kept safe. Since this inspection was carried out new guidelines have been introduced in respect of CRB and POVA checks on new staff. CRB checks are now portable but it is the responsibility of the Provider to carry out an individual risk assessment on all new staff in order to ensure that staff are safe to work with vulnerable people. There were no records in respect of one person being recruited by the service. It is a recommendation of this report that suitable records are maintained of all people interviewed and employed by the service. This is to help ensure that people who work at the home are suitable to do so and that people who live in the home are kept safe. People are having to wait for what is sometimes long periods of time for attention once they have called for assistance on their call bells. It is recommended that the service monitor how long call buzzers are taking to answer in the home with a view to reviewing and improving this so that people are not left waiting for unacceptable lengths of time for attention. There is a recommendation for the Provider to review the number of management hours allocated to the manager in order to allow sufficient time for management duties to be carried out effectively. This has been a previous recommendation. Random inspection report Care homes for older people Name: Address: Ash Hall Care Home Ash Bank Road Ash Bank Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire ST2 9DX two star good 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: Yvonne Allen Date: 2 8 1 0 2 0 0 9 Information about the care home Name of care home: Address: Ash Hall Care Home Ash Bank Road Ash Bank Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire ST2 9DX 01782302215 01782305088 Ashhall@ashbank.fsnet.co.uk Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Name of registered manager (if applicable) Ms Karen Harford Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Geoff Bowker Limited care home 61 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 0 61 0 dementia old age, not falling within any other category physical disability Conditions of registration: 5 0 41 The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 61 The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care Home with Nursing (Code N); To service users of the following gender: Either; Whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following categories: Dementia (DE) 5, Old age, not falling within any other category (OP) 61, Physical disability (PD) 41 Date of last inspection Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 9 Brief description of the care home The establishment is an extended two storey Grade II listed building situated in Ash Bank, within easy access to Werrington and Bucknall through good road and rail links, and a regular bus service. The establishment has an impressive vista in spacious, well-attended gardens. There is adequate parking and vehicle loading space, The establishment provides accommodation to people requiring 24 hour care, including nursing care to elderly persons requiring personal and/or nursing care, the home may also accept up to five elderly people who suffer with Dementia. A provision is approved for the care of up to five terminally ill elderly people. Thirty-Eight single (13 with ensuite) and 11 double bedrooms (4 en-suite) are located on the ground and first floors. First floor accommodation is accessed via stairs and shaft lift. Internally the home provides spacious accommodation, which is furnished to a grand and homely style. Communal accommodation on the ground floor provides three lounge facilities and three separate dining rooms. The approach to care in the home is based on integration of individuals admitted under the above categories with all the people using the full range of communal space. The range of fees charged by this home are from 344.00 to 630.00 pounds per person per week and this will be included in the Service User Guide. Services available at extra cost consist of hairdressing, toiletries and newspapers. Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 9 What we found: We carried out this unannounced Random Inspection visit at the service as a result of receiving concerns about the way in which staff are recruited, without having relevant checks carried out. We had received one complaint about this. We had also received some concerns about people who live in the home having to wait a long time for their call bells to be answered. We had received two complaints about this. We spoke to a person who lives in the home and has raised some concerns about his care with his Social Worker. He told us that his call bell is still left ringing for long periods of time. He told us that last Saturday he rang the bell for attention at 5.PM and this was not answered until 7.PM. He said that he told the manager Karen and she had apologized and told him that she would look into this. The manager told us that she was investigating this issue. The person who lives in the home who had raised concerns with his Social Worker told us that he likes a bath three times per week and that this is done. He also said that he sees the GP when he needs to and that he had seen the GP today for a medical problem and had been prescribed antibiotics. A visitor in the home told us On the whole everything is OK. They are short staffed sometimes and people have to wait for attention. We asked the people who live in the home about their care and they told us that they are happy with the care and services provided with the exception of one lady who said that sometimes we have to wait a long time for the bell to be answered. The person who lives in the home also told us that he is still not receiving his medication on time and that sometimes this can be up to 30 minutes late. The timing of my medication is as important to me as the dosage. The manager told us that the nurses do try and give this person his medication at the time for which it is prescribed but that this is not always possible exactly on time, for instance, if they are attending to someone else living in the home. She told us that she has explained this to his social worker as the person is not receiving 1:1 care. We spoke to another person who receives day care at the service. He was waiting for a bath and told us Oh its wonderful here I like it very much. We spoke with a visitor who told us I am more than happy with my relatives care - I am delirious. The home is wonderful my father is very well looked after. We looked at three staff recruitment files - We found that all three staff members had been recruited to work at the home without a suitable CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) in place. This means that they commenced employment for the service before their CRB check had been returned for the service. Also we could find no evidence that the service had carried out a POVA first (Protection Of Vulnerable Adult) check. We could not find any Care Homes for Older People Page 4 of 9 records or documentation relating to the recruitment of the person who had raised concerns with us. This person told us that she was interviewed by the manager and that the administrator telephoned her later that same day to offer her a job as a care assistant for breakfast duty. The person said that she had not been asked about a CRB or POVA check and had attended one shift at the home on the Monday morning. The manager told us that she could not remember interviewing her and the administrator who rang her was not on duty at the time of this inspection. The other administrator could find no records of this persons recruitment. At the time of the visit there were 54 people accommodated in the home plus two people receiving day care. There were eight care staff on duty plus two care staff giving out breakfasts. There were also two nurses on duty. We looked at the off duty for the last two weeks and this confirmed the above staffing numbers. The manager told us that they have recruited a domestic to work nights. This means that the care staff can concentrate on care duties. We observed that staff are busy, pleasant with people, and there seemed to be a good staff moral at the home. The manager raised her concerns with us about the fact that she has very few management hours off the floor. I am usually the second nurse on the floor and I have insufficient management hours There is a recommendation for the Provider to review the number of management hours allocated to the manager in order to allow sufficient time for management duties to be done. This is not the first time this has been recommended by us. Staff and people who live in the home are complimentary about the manager stating that she is approachable helpful and supportive. What the care home does well: What they could do better: The staff recruitment procedure is not robust and we left an immediate requirement that Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 9 staff must not be employed without the service having first received a satisfactory CRB or POVA first check. This is to ensure that people who work at the home are suitable to do so and people who live in the home are kept safe. Since this inspection was carried out new guidelines have been introduced in respect of CRB and POVA checks on new staff. CRB checks are now portable but it is the responsibility of the Provider to carry out an individual risk assessment on all new staff in order to ensure that staff are safe to work with vulnerable people. There were no records in respect of one person being recruited by the service. It is a recommendation of this report that suitable records are maintained of all people interviewed and employed by the service. This is to help ensure that people who work at the home are suitable to do so and that people who live in the home are kept safe. People are having to wait for what is sometimes long periods of time for attention once they have called for assistance on their call bells. It is recommended that the service monitor how long call buzzers are taking to answer in the home with a view to reviewing and improving this so that people are not left waiting for unacceptable lengths of time for attention. There is a recommendation for the Provider to review the number of management hours allocated to the manager in order to allow sufficient time for management duties to be carried out effectively. This has been a previous recommendation. 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 6 of 9 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 7 of 9 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 8 It is recommended that the service monitor how long call buzzers are taking to answer in the home with a view to reviewing and improving this so that people are not left waiting for unacceptable lengths of time for attention. The Provider should carry out an individual risk assessment on all new staff in respect of their CRB status in order to ensure that staff are safe to work with vulnerable people. The Provider should maintain suitable records of all people interviewed and employed by the service. This is to help ensure that people who work at the home are suitable to do so and that people who live in the home are kept safe. There is a recommendation for the Provider to review the number of management hours allocated to the manager in order to allow sufficient time for management duties to be carried out effectively. This has been a previous recommendation. 2 29 3 29 4 31 Care Homes for Older People Page 8 of 9 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. 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