Northlands House Care Home

People received a safe service. There was a desire to learn from incidents and concerns in order to make the required improvements. Processes were in place to ensure relevant information was shared when people moved to and from other services. Staff worked with people to identify risks to them and to discuss how they wanted them to be managed. People were provided with the equipment they required for their safety. However, there was a lack of continuity in the information recorded across some people’s care records. Leaders were aware of this issue and the required work had been started but further time was needed for it to be completed. People spoken with did not all feel their call bells were always responded to promptly. Staff and leaders said there were sufficient staffing levels and demonstrated how staffing needs were assessed and monitored. Action had been taken to increase staffing at the times in the day when people’s needs were higher. We saw there were sufficient numbers of staff to provide people’s care without their care being rushed. Staff vacancies had been filled and the number of hours of staff were deployed was higher than the assessed level required for the home. Nurses had not all had the opportunity to set their annual objectives or to update their clinical skills this year. The new clinical deputy manager was working with them to address this need.

People’s care and communication needs had been assessed with them and their needs and goals for their care identified. People’s treatment was planned with them in order to meet their needs. Staff understood people’s human rights and ensured their needs related to their protected characteristics were identified and met. Staff used a range of recognised tools in order to assess people’s care needs and followed best practice guidance. People’s consent to their care was sought and where they lacked capacity to make specific decisions, legal requirements were met. Processes were in place to monitor people’s weight and fluid intake and required actions were taken. However, people’s enjoyment of meals had been negatively impacted during the planned re-fit of the kitchen. The new kitchen was completed and in use just after our site visits.

The succession planning for the service, ensured continuity and stability of management for people. The manager was both supported in their role and supportive of their staff team. They ensured they were accessible to people and staff. There was a clear organisational structure and staff all understood their roles and responsibilities. Systems were in place to ensure the manager had oversight of data which indicated how the service was performing in relation to the provider’s objectives. There were processes in place to ensure actions generated from different sources were collated and overseen via the service improvement plan. This enabled the manager to track the progress for each required action.