Archived: Applegarth Nursing Home

Updated 15 October 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Prior to this inspection we received a concern that people were placed at risk because we had been told about the poor attitude of some staff when caring for people who lived in Applegarth Nursing Home. At this focused inspection we looked at how the staff team cared for and supported people who had complex physical, mental and emotional care needs.

This unannounced inspection visit was carried out on the 18th July 2015. The inspection was carried out by one Adult Social Care inspector, an Expert by Experience and a Specialist Advisor who had experience of supporting people who maybe living with dementia and other complex mental and physical health needs.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home, this included the provider’s action plan, which set out the action they would take to meet legal requirements. We also spoke with the local authority adult social care team.

At our inspection we spoke to five people who lived in the home, three visitors, the registered manager, the registered provider and four care staff. We also spoke to members of the senior management team including the clinical lead for staff development. We observed care and support in communal areas, spoke with people in private and looked at the care records for six people. We also looked at a number of training manuals and the establishment’s policy on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 as well as the Activities and Meet & Greet programmes.

Updated 15 October 2015

This was a focussed unannounced inspection that took place on the 18th August 2015.

This service was last inspected on the 27th January and 11th February 2015. At this inspection we found that there was a breach of Regulation 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 because appropriate arrangements were not in place to demonstrate that people received all their medicines appropriately.

The above regulations have now been replaced with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At this inspection we found that the home was no longer in breach of any of the above regulations and met all of the 2014 Regulations.

Following our last inspection we had requested and received an action plan outlining the measures put in place to ensure people received their medicines appropriately and in line with their prescription.

We undertook this focused inspection on the 18th August 2015 to check if the provider had followed their plan and taken action in response to concerns we identified during our comprehensive inspection.

Prior to this inspection visit we had received an anonymous concern regarding the attitude of some support workers towards people they were supporting. During this inspection we observed how staff cared for and interacted with the people living in Applegarth.

We inspected the service against two of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe and is the service caring. This report only covers our findings in relation to these topics. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Applegarth Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Applegarth Nursing Home (Applegarth) is a care home with nursing, registered to provide accommodation for up to 53 people with a variety of needs. The home is divided into three units, one providing care for frail elderly people, some of whom may have various forms of dementia and the other two providing care for younger people with highly complex needs. Accommodation throughout the home is provided on two floors with access to the second floor by a passenger lift or stairs. There is some car parking space available for visitors.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection visit. 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.

The provider had policies and procedures in place to protect people from harm or the threat of abuse. We observed warm caring interactions between people and the staff who cared for and supported them. This evidenced people were comfortable and relaxed in their surroundings. Staff had completed training in safeguarding vulnerable adults.

We saw that people’s privacy and dignity were preserved at all times.

We saw that care/support plans were detailed and up to date. We saw that risks were identified and risk assessments completed.

Staff had completed training in the protection of vulnerable people and we discussed this with the staff on duty.

We found there was sufficient staff on duty to meet the assessed needs of the people who lived in Applegarth.

We found that medicines were administered correctly and in line with peoples’ prescriptions. Records of medicines administration were correct and up to date.