Fairfield House Residential Care Home

Some improvements had been made by the provider since our last inspection in May 2023 to implement changes. The provider's area manager had stepped into the role as manager and was working with the provider and staff team to implement the changes. This included a new electronic care system and call bell system. On the first day of our visit we found staff were using 2 systems to record monitoring and care tasks they had undertaken, the electronic care system and paper monitoring charts. There was no oversight monitoring to ensure people received enough fluids and safe care which placed people at risk.

Action was taken by the management and staff were supported to use the new electronic system and improved management oversight was put in pace to ensure people received enough fluids and were regularly repositioned in line with their care plans.

Peoples' paper care plans and risk assessments had been reviewed monthly and some information had been added to the new electronic care system. However, these had not been updated promptly when peoples' needs changed. This meant staff might not always have up to date information to support people safely.

Over the past few years there had been several managers at the home which had caused inconsistency and upheaval for people and staff. Staff were unclear about their roles and responsibilities. This meant tasks were not always consistently completed. The manager showed us new job descriptions they were working on with staff to implement and ensure staff were clear about their job roles and expectations.

A new audit system was being used to identify areas which required improvement. Audits we looked at had identified areas for improvement and some had actions required. We discussed with the manager the need for a more robust process to ensure actions were completed.

Concerns had been raised with CQC regarding the high amount of agency staff being used at the home and that some shifts were covered only with agency staff. We found consistent agency worked at the home and

they were always supported by staff who worked at Fairfield House.