Lindisfarne Newton Aycliffe

Date of Assessment: 28 January to 10 February 2025. Lindisfarne Newton Aycliffe is a care home providing nursing and personal care for up to 56 people who are older, have physical health conditions, mental health needs or are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 52 people used the service. At the last inspection we identified a breach of regulation in relation to the oversight of the service. Effective systems were not in place to monitor people’s safety when eating and drinking. Record keeping needed to be improved, and fire drills had not been completed recently. At this inspection, improvements had been made and the service was no longer in breach of regulations. Staff had received training around providing good dementia care, so stepped in to meet people’s needs, which supported individuals to retain their communication and social skills. People and relatives were very positive about how staff had supported individuals to continue to enjoy a good quality of life. The management team ensured assessments were completed in a timely manner and were accurate. These were used as the basis for the care records. Staff had received training around the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated code of practice. Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications were appropriately submitted. We discussed enhancements that could be made to the capacity assessments and ‘best interest’ decisions, which the registered manager actioned. Risk assessments were in place and assisted staff to readily identify how to mitigate risks. Staff worked with people to ensure they could still take everyday risks such as going to the shops independently. Incident monitoring records were in place and the registered manager used these to assist them to understand themes, reasons for the events and lessons which could be learned. We found the registered manager critically reviewed the operation of the service and actively made changes as and when these were needed.