Lutterworth Country House Care Home

We looked at 5 quality statements under this domain: Safe systems, pathways and transitions; Safeguarding; Safe and effective staffing; Infection prevention and control; and Medicines optimisation. We found that people were supported to move safely into the service, having been assessed prior to admission. This helped to ensure any risks were identified in advance so staff could provide safe care and support from the outset. People felt safe because of the presence of staff who they trusted. Staff were trained in safeguarding and managers worked with other agencies and specialists to address any safeguarding issues. Staff followed people’s care plans and risk assessments and completed monitoring chart to document the provision of safe care and support. There were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs and people made many positive comments about the staff team. Staff were safely recruited and received an induction and ongoing training to ensure their skills were appropriate and up to date. On our first visit there was an issue with flies in the premises which staff said was due to the service’s rural location (surrounded by farms and animals). We asked the provider to address this. On our second visit the provider had purchased and installed multiple fly zappers and flies were no longer a problem at the service.

We looked at 2 quality statements under this domain: Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders; and Governance, management and sustainability. The registered manager was approachable, listened to staff, and acted to address any shortfalls at the service. They had already made improvements to staffing levels and deployment. They had identified that some care plans/risk assessments needed reviewing and updating, and this work was in progress. Staff said the registered manager had had a positive effect on the service and as a result morale was good and people were receiving better quality care and support. The service’s audit showed improvement in most areas, although an infection prevention and control (IPC) issue had not been identified. However, this was promptly addressed when we brought it to the attention of the registered manager and regional director.