Latest Inspection
This is the latest available inspection report for this service, carried out on 11th May 2010. CQC found this care home to be providing an Good 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 The Langholm.
What the care home does well The home is friendly and comfortable and staff make sure that the service users are treated with dignity and respect. The meals are good with plenty of choices available and relatives and friends can visit anytime they wish. People living at the home are protected by the medication, complaints and safeguarding procedures. The home is clean and people have their own rooms which they can decorate and finish with their belongings if they wish. There are enough staff to meet the needs of the people who presently live at the home. What the care home could do better: The acting manager should continue to develop care planning arrangements so that they are more person centred, continue to regularly audit care plans and continue staff care planning training. Management arrangements should be improved so that there is a post holder who has been assessed by the Care Quality Commission as having the skills qualities and experience to be the Registered Manager of the home. Planned refurbishment of the home should continue to take place. The acting manager should continue with plans to train remaining staff how to use bedrails safely. Random inspection report
Care homes for older people
Name: Address: The Langholm 14/16 High Bondgate Bishop Auckland Durham DL14 7PJ 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: Steve Tuck Date: 1 1 0 5 2 0 1 0 Information about the care home
Name of care home: Address: The Langholm 14/16 High Bondgate Bishop Auckland Durham DL14 7PJ 01388450149 01388665914 langholm@schealthcare.co.uk www.schealthcare.co.uk Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Name of registered manager (if applicable) Southern Cross Care Services Ltd Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : care home 31 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 0 19 dementia old age, not falling within any other category Conditions of registration: 12 0 The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 31 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, maximum number of places: 19 Dementia - Code DE, maximum number of places: 12 Date of last inspection Care Homes for Older People Page 2 of 10 Brief description of the care home The Langholm is a well-established care home, which has been extended to provide a separate unit for people with dementia. The home is registered to accommodate up to 31 older people, including up to 12 people with dementia. The accommodation for people with dementia is at single-storey, ground floor level with access to the home s enclosed gardens. The original building, which accommodates older persons, has a choice of single and double bedrooms over three-floors. There is a large combined loungedining room and a separate lounge on the ground floor, and a separate lounge on the second floor. A vertical passenger lift is provided. The home is located close to Bishop Auckland town centre with its many shops, post office, pubs, bus station etc. At the time of this inspection fees charged ranged from GBP382.50 to GBP425.50. The costs of newspapers, hairdressing, and toiletries are not included in the fees. Fees vary depending on peoples circumstances, further details can be found in the homes Service User Guide. Care Homes for Older People Page 3 of 10 What we found:
Before this random inspection visit: We looked at: Information we have received since the last annual service review on 2nd April 2009. How the service has dealt with any complaints and concerns since the last visit. Any changes to how the service is run. The providers view of how well they care for people. The visit: An unannounced visit was made on 11th May 2010. During this visit we: Looked at information about the people who use the service and how well their needs are met. Looked at other records which must be kept. Checked that staff had knowledge, skills and training to meet the needs of the people they care for. Checked what improvements had been made since the last visit. We told the manager what we found at the end of the visit. Health and Personal Care: We looked at two care plans in detail. The home uses Southern Crosss standard documents to record each persons individual assessment and to find out about the service users care needs. This covers a range of health and personal care needs as well as finding out about the persons life history. Examples include mobility, eating and drinking, continence, and sleeping as well finding out about the persons cultural needs, for example their lifestyle and religious beliefs. Where health or personal care needs have been identified a supporting risk assessment is developed followed by the care plan. Those we looked at provided up-to-date information. Risk assessments include nutrition, pressure area care and use of bedrails but also for any other area where a need has been identified. Attempts had been made to use risk assessments and care plans in a way that places the person at the centre of this process although the acting manager siad that she planned to improve these. This means that they are written in a way which describe the individual service users needs and
Care Homes for Older People Page 4 of 10 preferences. There are plans in place for people who need support with an altered sense of time because of their dementia type illness. This provided staff with information about the best way to support this person, including the use of therapeutic techniques and also the importance of checking to make sure the person is not in pain. We spent time observing how staff supported service users. We found that staff were very respectful in their approach, treating the service users with dignity and respect. When they supported people they did so by sitting next to them at a distance which was comfortable for that person. Nobody was rushed and staff got down to the service users level when talking to them and referred to them by their chosen name. Daily Life and Social Activities: Staff arrange activities for service users in the home. Some staff have been provided with training about activities particularly for people with dementia care needs. During our visit a relative was visiting and there were activities such as bread making and craftwork taking place. Staff have also compiled life histories of most of the people who live at the home (where available) which is important as it will help with the development of the activities programme. The home has shared access to transport which helps people to visit the local and wider community. A record is kept in the care plan of service user /relative or advocate involvement with details of the date/time and what was discussed. Relatives are able to visit their family member whenever they choose. We looked at the menus and spoke to the cook about the meals that are served at the home. The tables were nicely presented with table clothes, napkins and condiments. There was a choice of main meal and pudding. Staff were very respectful in their approach to service users during this activity, offering support sensitively and discretely where needed. Refreshments were offered throughout and service users were able to to eat at their own pace. Service users are able to have their meal in their room if they want to. Complaints and Protection: People who live at the home who were spoken to said that they would have no hesitation in speaking to the staff or manager if they had any complaints or concerns. There have been no complaints within the last year although the home manager has a way of recording these and understands their 28 day response time. The staff we spoke to confirmed that they had had training about safeguarding adults and knew what to do should they witness or suspect abuse. Environment: The home was clean, well maintained with no unpleasant odours. The senior manager said that a maintenance programme had been drawn up for areas of the home that were now in need of redecoration and refurbishment. Staffing:
Care Homes for Older People Page 5 of 10 On duty on the day of our visit were the manager, four care staff, one catering staff and one housekeeper on duty. Currently there are fifteen people living in this home, six of who have dementia type illness and considering their individual levels of need, staffing levels are satisfactory. We spoke to staff who said that they felt that staffing levels were appropriate for the current number of people living at the home. We looked at two staff files. These contained the required information such as a job application form, job description, contract, two references, an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check and confirmation that their name was not on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list. Records showed that staff had completed training about understanding dementia, food hygiene and nutrition and some staff we spoke to said that they had completed the NVQ level 2 and 3 qualification in care, which they said had really helped them to understand the needs of the service users. There has been a low turn over in staff which is good for continuity of care. Management: The previous registered manager had left the home on a temporary secondment to oversee another home in the locality. However the owners had not previously informed the Commission for Social Care inspection. Since this inspection took place, the owners Southern Cross, have sent us notification of how they intend to make sure that the home is properly managed. they have told us that they have appointed an acting manager, who has previously worked at the home for seven years including six months as deputy manager. The owners have also appointed a senior manager who oversees the home and visits weekly to support the acting manager and check that the home is being properly run. The acting manager has an National Vocational Qualification at level 3, has teacher training, health and safety qualifications and has undertaken dementia awareness training. The acting manager and senior manager confirmed that regular Regulation 26 visits take place where the running of the home is scrutinised and staff confirmed that they receive regular supervisions. Generic environmental risk assessments have been completed for a number of issues such as fire safety. There is a process in place for monitoring the occurrence of accidents and incidents in order to prevent them from happening again. And the organisation also monitors any accidents at the home to help to make sure that people living and working there are safe. There is an internal audit system where the manager carries out checks of medication, care plans, complaints,etc. The regional manager then verifies this audit. Records of these were up-to-date. The manager is in the process of checking that the risk assessments are in place for Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH). What the care home does well:
Care Homes for Older People Page 6 of 10 The home is friendly and comfortable and staff make sure that the service users are treated with dignity and respect. The meals are good with plenty of choices available and relatives and friends can visit anytime they wish. People living at the home are protected by the medication, complaints and safeguarding procedures. The home is clean and people have their own rooms which they can decorate and finish with their belongings if they wish. There are enough staff to meet the needs of the people who presently live at the home. 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 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 1 7 The acting manager should continue to develop care planning arrangements so that they are more person centred, continue to regularly audit care plans and continue staff care planning training. The acting manager should continue with the planned refurbishment and maintenence programme at the home. The acting manager should continue with plans to train remaining staff how to use bedrails safely. 2 3 26 38 Care Homes for Older People 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 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. 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 Older People 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!
