The Elms Residential Care Home

There were enough staff to keep people safe. Staff understood their role in the management of risks and their responsibility to report any concerns that could place people at risk of harm or injury. The provider had processes to improve staff practice and share learning. Care and support plans contained sufficient information to support staff in mitigating people's individual risks. However, there was a lack of consistency in the completion of tools to identify and evidence the management of risks. People received their prescribed medicines but records around the use of ‘as required’ and topical medicines needed to be more robust. The provider had effective processes to maintain the safety of the environment and to support good infection control practices. There were systems to ensure important information was gathered about people and shared with other healthcare professionals as they moved between services.

The registered manager had been in post since February 2023 and had established a staff team who worked well and effectively together. Staff spoke of a supportive and positive culture where they were encouraged to speak up and share their ideas and concerns. Staff told us equality and diversity were promoted and the registered manager listened to them to ensure reasonable adjustments were implemented to support their wellbeing at work. Improvements had been made to governance and quality assurance processes to ensure regulations were met. However, some checks needed to be more robust to identify areas for development and then used to create an action plan to further drive improvement at the service.