Archived: Ashling House

Updated 1 March 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This unannounced inspection took place on 10 January 2018 and was carried out by one inspector. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return [PIR]. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report. We also reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications, which are events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about.

During our inspection we spoke with five people who used the service, two relatives and two members of staff, the hairdresser, the GP and the registered manager.

We looked at three people's care plans, two staff recruitment files, staff training records and records relating to the management of the service such as quality monitoring surveys. We also looked at the environment of the service.

Updated 1 March 2018

This inspection took place on 10 January 2018 and was unannounced. At our last inspection in January 2016, we found the provider was meeting the regulations we inspected and the service was rated "Good". At this inspection, we found that the service continued to be rated "Good".

Ashling House is a care home. People receive accommodation and personal care support as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection. Ashling House is registered to accommodate 14 older people in one building. Ten people were using the service at the time of inspection.

The provider of the service is an individual who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the service. Therefore they are not required to have a separate registered manager. The provider is the registered manager of the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People continued to receive safe care. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. Staff were appropriately recruited. Sufficient numbers of staff were available to provide care and support to meet people's needs. People were protected from the risk of harm and appropriate risk assessments were in place to provide safe care. People received their prescribed medicines from competent staff who were trained to administer medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to support, supervision, training and on-going professional development that they required to work effectively in their roles. People were able to see healthcare professionals, such as GPs, when needed and were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People continued to receive safe care. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. Staff were appropriately recruited. Sufficient staff were available to provide care and support to meet people's needs. People were protected from the risk of harm and appropriate risk assessments were in place to provide safe care. People received their prescribed medicines from competent staff who were trained to administer medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and on going professional development they required to work effectively in their roles. People had access to healthcare professionals as needed and were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People were supported to have choice and control over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The staff demonstrated good knowledge of people's care needs, significant people and events in their lives as well as their daily routines and preferences. Therefore, people continued to receive care and support that was responsive to their needs.

People and their relatives felt staff were kind and caring. Staff supported people to maintain their independence and respected their privacy and dignity. People were supported to take part in activities based on their own interests.

People, relatives and staff felt the service was well run and the registered manager was approachable. The registered manager worked well with other organisations to ensure people received the care and support they needed.

The registered manager had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided to people. People and their representatives were able to raise concerns or complaints if they needed to and felt these were listened to and acted upon.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.