Ash Grove

The provider had processes in place to ensure people were protected from risk of harm and abuse. Staff knew potential risks to people and how to report concerns. The provider had processes to learn from accidents and incidents to ensure learning took place to prevent them from happening again. The home was generally safe, though we identified that 1 window did not have a window restrictor on and some wardrobes were not secure to the wall. The provider took action to rectify these issues. Systems and processes in place ensured medicines were well managed and people received their medicines safely.

People’s needs and rights were supported. Care and support for people was effective. People had their health, care, well-being, and communication needs assessed. Care plans were reflective of people’s support needs and reviewed in a timely manner. Staff were aware of people’s preferences and respected these. Peoples’ capacity to make decisions was assessed and the information was part of their care plans. Staff had good knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act, including capacity and consent. Relatives had been involved in planning for peoples’ care needs. One relative said they weren’t being kept up to date with their family members’ medical needs, which was fed back to the management team to action.

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this assessment we did not assess all quality statements within this key question. The overall rating for this key question remains good based on the findings at the last inspection.

During our assessment of this key question, we found people were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff understand their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) including Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The provider had systems and processes in place to help ensure people were supported to understand their rights. Person-centred activities were being planned for people. Positive relationships between staff and people were observed. People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing.

There was an effective system in place to monitor the service. Audits were effectively in place to ensure actions were identified and improvements were made. People's records were accurate and up to date and contained person-centred information about people's needs. The provider had started to make some improvements to the culture of the service to ensure staff felt able to report their concerns and there was improved visibility and action from the new manager.