Care Home: Prince Alfred

What the care home does well Prince Alfred constantly reviews its practice and is always striving to improve the service offered to the people either living in the home or to prospective residents. The service is flexible and reflective and the home`s management team have looked at where they are now and where they want to be in the future. This helps to ensure that the home is able to respond to changing needs, which in turn enables people to maintain as much independence as possible. What the care home could do better: We consider that Prince Alfred is an excellent service so rather than state what they could improve we would expect that the home continues to review its practice in order to ensure that the very high standard of care provided to the residents at the present time is maintained and where possible improved upon. Inspecting for better lives Random inspection report Care homes for older people Name: Address: Prince Alfred Prince Alfred Road Liverpool Merseyside L15 8HH 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 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: Paul Ramsden Date: 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 9 Information about the care home Name of care home: Address: Prince Alfred Prince Alfred Road Liverpool Merseyside L15 8HH 01517342587 01517345998 princealfred@europeanwellcare.com Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : European Wellcare Homes Ltd care home 50 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 3 38 9 mental disorder, excluding learning disability or dementia old age, not falling within any other category physical disability Conditions of registration: 0 0 0 50 Nursing and 50 Personal Care in the overall total of 50. One named service user over age 60 years old within the overall number of 50 older people over 65 years of age. OP Old age - to include one named service user under the age of 65 years in an overall total of 50. This service should at all times employ a suitably qualified and experienced manager who is registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection Date of last inspection Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 10 Brief description of the care home Prince Alfred is situated in the Wavertree area of Liverpool, within easy walking distance to Wavertree High Street and is close to local bus and rail routes, shops and amenities. The home has fifty single rooms, each with a hand-wash basin. The bedrooms are situated on the first and second floors. The first and second floors can be reached by stairs or by a passenger lift. Bathrooms are located on the first and second floors and toilet facilities are available on each of the three floors. Bathing aids are available. On the ground floor, there are two dining rooms, a conservatory and two lounges, one lounge being available for service users who wish to smoke. There is also a lounge on both the first and second floors. The home has a hair salon. A garden with a seating area is provided. There is a car park at the front of the home. Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 10 What we found: This is a report of a Random Inspection that has been undertaken as part of a national sample to check the validity of the quality rating of some Good and Excellent services. Any references to we or us in the report refer to the Commission. Choice of Home Prince Alfred has produced a detailed statement of purpose and service user guide. These are regularly reviewed and updated to provide people with full information regarding the services and facilities offered by the home. We believe that the information produced by Prince Alfred is of a very good standard and provides sufficient information for people who may either be choosing to move in or who have recently arrived. Prior to anyone moving into the home a comprehensive assessment is undertaken in order to ensure that their individual health, care and social needs are identified and can be met. The assessment is carried out with the prospective resident, their family and any social or healthcare professional involved. When someone is funded by the Local Authority they also provide an assessment of the persons needs prior to admission. This provides background information as to the reasons why a move to the home is needed and is very useful when combined with the homes own assessment. Health and Personal Care The care plans seen were all up to date and were written in a style that would enable someone reading it to have a good idea of what help and assistance someone needed at that time. We felt that they provided staff members with all of the necessary information for them to look after a persons needs. Care plans were being reviewed and where necessary re-written on a regular basis. Appropriate risk assessments were in place. The manager explained that a new care planning system had been inplemented since the previous key inspection. We saw that staff members were behaving in a sensitive and calm manner with residents and they showed by their actions that they understood the individual needs of each person they were working with. This means that care is person centred and that people staying at Prince Alfred are receiving excellent care. Feedback from residents and relatives confirmed that staff treated them with dignity and respected their privacy. We did not identify any issues with the medication administration procedures during this visit and the records we saw showed that people were receiving their medicines as prescribed. Daily Life and Social Activities Residents were able to move freely around the home and a choice of sitting and dining areas were available. They confirmed that routines within the home were flexible and that they were able to make choices in many areas of daily living; for example, times Care Homes for Older People Page 4 of 10 of rising and retiring, whether or not to join in with planned activities and where to spend time and with whom. A wide variety of social and other activities are organised and information about these are displayed on the notice board. Residents spoken with all made positive comments about the activities available. Preparations for Mothers day were being made during the visit. Various religious denominations conduct services in the home. People also confirmed that they were free to attend a local church if they wished to do so. Links with the local community are maintained and residents are free to go out with their families. Visitors are free to call into the home at any reasonable time and mail is given to residents unopened. Meals can be eaten in the main dining room or in the privacy of a residents own room. The dining room is well furnished and laid out and provides a very pleasant dining experience. There is a menu that has the flexibility to meet individual needs and choices; residents and their relatives have recently been involved in producing a new menu. The catering staff members have a very good understanding of each persons preferences and all of the residents that commented said that the quality of food provided to them was of a very good quality and that choices were available. Special diets can be provided if needed. Complaints and Protection There is a written complaints procedure for the home, this is displayed in the entrance area. Information about complaints is also included in the service user guide that is given to all of the residents. The ethos of the home is that it will deal with any complaints/suggestions positively and will learn from them. Those residents that commented said they would inform the manager or another senior staff member of any issues. They also said that they felt confident that appropriate action would be taken. No complaints have been received by the home; we have not received any complaints either. The home has an Adult Protection procedure [now called Safeguarding] that ensures people are protected from possible harm. Staff members receive training in this area. Environment Prince Alfred is kept very clean, tidy and provides residents with a pleasant environment in which to stay. Bedrooms are well furnished and comfortable. A variety of improvements have been made to the facilities since the previous key inspection; these include a programme of redecoration and the purchase of new furniture for the main lounge and dining room. There are well-maintained fully accessible garden areas for people to use. The laundry is appropriately equipped and good systems are in place for the care of peoples clothes. Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 10 Staffing Care staff on duty and rotas seen demonstrated that staffing levels and the skill mix of staff was able to meet the needs of the residents within the home. The staff members were cheerful and friendly and the residents spoken with were complimentary about their attitude and competence. We saw that the staff team worked well together and relationships between them were relaxed and positive. A visiting relative said, It is brilliant and the staff are superb. The manager keeps a record of the staff training and we saw evidence of forthcoming courses. Staff members spoken with also confirmed that regular training was available to them. We looked at the recruitment records of a new member of staff and these showed that thorough checks are done to make sure new staff are suitable to work with the residents so the residents are protected from possible harm or poor practice. Management and Administration The manager was able to demonstrate her ability and competence in order to ensure that the home was well managed. She displays a clear sense of direction and best practice and regularly attends courses/training in order to keep her practice up to date and to fulfill her management responsibilities. The residents and relatives spoken with were very complimentary about the manager. Prince Alfred has a strong management team who are committed to providing high standards of care for people living in the home. There are effective systems in place at the home to monitor whether these standards are being maintained. These include regular contact between the management team and residents/relatives. A quality assurance system is in place. We looked at the records of tests for the fire safety equipment and fire safety training for staff. These showed that regular fire drills and training were being undertaken. Policies and procedures covering health and safety are in place and the appropriate maintenance contracts such as the lift are in place. What the care home does well: What they could do better: We consider that Prince Alfred is an excellent service so rather than state what they could improve we would expect that the home continues to review its practice in order to ensure that the very high standard of care provided to the residents at the present Care Homes for Older People Page 6 of 10 time is maintained and where possible improved upon. 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 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. 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