Care Home: Dove House

What the care home does well The Manager was working an adequate number of hours. She was ensuring that residents` needs were being met during night hours in a `person-centred` way. What the care home could do better: The Service`s emergency call bell system must be repaired or replaced in order that residents are able to summon staff for immediate help when needed. A person must not start work at the Service unless the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has given at least a preliminary indication that the person is fit to work with vulnerable people. Inspecting for better lives Random inspection report Care homes for older people Name: Address: Dove House Dovehouse Green Ashbourne Derbyshire DE6 1FF 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 assessment of the service. We call this a ‘key’ inspection. This is a report of a random inspection of this care home. A random inspection is a short, focussed inspection. 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: Anthony Barker Date: 0 3 1 2 2 0 0 8 Information about the care home Name of care home: Address: Dove House Dovehouse Green Ashbourne Derbyshire DE6 1FF (01335)346079 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: hill212@btinternet.com Name of registered provider(s): Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Mrs Kathleen Janet Hill care home 16 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 16 old age, not falling within any other category Conditions of registration: Date of last inspection Brief description of the care home 0 Dove House is a 16-bedded care home providing personal care for older people, located close to the market place in Ashbourne. Dove House has a number of different levels, with service user accommodation located on the upper floors. Access to these floors is either via the stairs or shaft lift. Dove House has 10 single and 3-shared rooms. Ensuite facilities are provided in all but one bedroom. Service users have access to a dining room and two separate lounge areas on the ground floor. Service users also have access to a large well-tended garden. A number of bedrooms have direct access to the garden. Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 7 What we found: The reason for this unannounced inspection was to assess certain aspects of the quality of service being provided to residents, and outcomes for them, in view of a recent complaint received. Details of this complaint are referred to in this report. The time spent on this inspection was 1.5 hours. The Manager, Deputy Manager, Cook and one resident were spoken with. The complainant was concerned that the Manager expects night staff to prioritise domestic tasks over time spent with residents. The Managers response was that waking night staff are expected to prioritise residents needs and to check residents every two hours. This practice was confirmed by an examination of the Night Record. The Cook, who works as a waking night care assistant once a week, told us that the Manager expects that residents come first...I check every two hours unless they buzz (as an emergency)...if theyre out of bed then I check 15 to 20 minutes later. She went on to say, I have time to talk to residents...I do special things like making them a cup of tea (if theyre up). She then added, Theyre very well looked after here. The Manager provided us with a copy of two documents covering night staff duties. These were Notes for Night staff and Night Staff Jobs. The former was very person centred and made no mention of domestic tasks. The latter was purely centred on domestic tasks to be performed at night and made no reference to meeting residents needs. There was no cross-referencing between these two documents. The complainant was concerned that the emergency call bell system in one bedroom did not work and this resident was at risk at night. The person cited a recent example where the resident was found by night staff following an episode of sickness. This resident was spoken with and recalled this incident. The residents understanding was that the call bell point did not work but said that they would not have called staff over this incident anyway. The resident was asked to press the call bell point to see if it worked but the person was unclear as to what to press. When the call was eventually made staff came to the room indicating it did work. The Manager agreed to bring forward her plans to upgrade the whole emergency call system and have an up to date wireless system put in place. Meanwhile, to address this particular residents need to communicate with staff at night a walkie talkie was provided pending an extension lead being acquired from the Services electrician. E-mailed confirmation of the walkie talkie being provided that night was later sent to us. The complainant was concerned that there had been no Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check done before the person started work at Dove House. Concerns were also expressed about other staff not having these checks, too. Records confirmed that applications were being made to the CRB, regarding staff, including the (quick check) POVA First. However, although staff were being supervised before the full CRB disclosure is received they were starting work before the POVA First check is received. The Manager said she would cease to operate this potentially unsafe practice. The Complainant was concerned that the Manager spends only about 0.75 hours at the Service each day apart from the monthly wages day. The Manager, Deputy Manager and the Cook were spoken with. These discussions indicated that the Manager did spend considerably more time, on the premises, than indicated above. However, this Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 7 could not be confirmed from the staff rota as this did not include a record of the hours worked by either the Manager or the Deputy Manager. 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 Older People Page 4 of 7 Are there any outstanding requirements from the last inspection? Yes £ No R Outstanding statutory requirements These requirements were set at the last inspection. They may not have been looked at during this inspection, as a random inspection is short and focussed. The registered person must take the necessary action to comply with these requirements within the timescales set. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 7 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 1 18 13 13(4)(c) The Services emergency call bell system must be repaired or replaced. This will ensure that residents are able to summon staff for immediate help, when needed. 16/01/2009 2 29 19 19 Sch 2.7 A person must 10/12/2008 not start work at the Service unless the CRB has given at least a preliminary indication that the person is fit to work with vulnerable people. This will ensure that residents are kept safe. 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 12 Documents covering night staff duties should all clearly indicate the expectation that residents needs are prioritised over domestic tasks. The staffing rota should include a record of the hours worked by the Manager and the Deputy Manager. Page 6 of 7 2 31 Care Homes for Older People Reader Information Document Purpose: Author: Audience: Further copies from: Inspection Report CSCI 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: 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 7 of 7 - 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!