Elmbank Care Home

People continued to receive safe care. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures that should be followed to report harm and incidents of concern. Risk assessments are in place to manage potential risks within people's lives, whilst also promoting their independence.

The staff recruitment procedures ensured that appropriate pre-employment checks are carried out to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service. Adequate staffing levels are in place.

Staff have training that provides them with the knowledge they need to perform their roles. The registered manager and senior carers support staff to put their training into practice.

Staff obtain people's consent before they provide care and support. Bed rails are used only if people consent to them being used to prevent them falling from their beds. People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

There are procedures in place for evacuating non- able-bodied people who are in imminent danger. These are risk assessed and judged to be safe. However, the service did not have purpose made evacuation sheets that are recommended for use when evacuating non-able-bodied people. After we discussed this with registered manager they ordered evacuation sheets and arranged for staff to be trained in using the equipment.

Infection control procedures are in place but not all staff are familiar with these. People's rooms and communal areas are clean. However, we saw two people using wheelchairs that were stained with dried food. Not all staff were clear who was responsible for cleaning people's wheelchairs or what the appropriate cleaning method was. After we discussed this with the registered manager added the cleaning of wheelchairs to cleaning schedules and cleaning audits.

Staff treat people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them and their specific needs and wishes. Care plans reflected people's likes and dislikes, and staff spoke with people in a friendly manner, addressing them by their preferred name. Our observations during inspection were of positive and friendly interactions between staff and people.

People or their relatives are involved in the planning of care and contribute to decisions about how they are supported. People and their relatives are involved in reviewing their care and making any necessary changes if they want.

A process is in place which ensures people can raise any complaints or concerns. Concerns are acted upon

promptly and any necessary changes were made to care plans and communicated to staff.

The service continued to be well managed. The provider has systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Actions are taken and improvements were made when required.