Laurel Care Home

Updated 30 May 2019

The inspection:

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

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one CQC Inspector and a Specialist Nurse Advisor on the first day of the inspection and one CQC Inspector and an CQC Assistant Inspector on the second day.

Service and service type:

Laurel Care Home is a care home which provides accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care 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.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection on day one was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included information about incidents the provider had notified us of and contacting health professionals for their views on the service. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection, we spoke with nine of the people living at Laurel Care Home. We also spoke with14 members of staff which included the registered manager, the deputy manager, the cook, administration staff as well as nursing and care staff. We spoke with two visiting relatives and immediately following the inspection we spoke with a further two relatives on the telephone and obtained their views on the service Laurel Care Home provided. We also received e-mail feedback from health professionals who had regular contact with the home.

We observed how people were supported and to establish the quality of care people received we looked at records relating to their care and support. This included individual care and support plans, and a selection of Medicine Administration Records (MARS). We also looked at records relating to the management of the service including; staffing rotas, staff recruitment, supervision and training records, premises maintenance records, training and staff meeting minutes and a range of the providers policies and procedures.

Updated 30 May 2019

About the service:

Laurel Care Home is a family run nursing home which is registered to provide accommodation and nursing or personal care for up to 60 older people. At the time of our inspection there were 56 people living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service:

Staff training is developed and delivered around individual needs and learning styles. The provider had a pro-active, detailed training process that fully supported staff and actively encouraged their future professional development.

Laurel Care Home staffed above the core numbers of trained staff required. This ensured people received individual, person centred care and support at all times. Staff were themselves supported with a system of detailed, regular supervision and annual appraisals. Staff felt very well supported and commented positively on the range and quality of the training they received. Staff told us the training was “Excellent”.

The service used innovative designs to adapt and improve the premises to enrich and benefit the lives of people living at Laurel Care Home. People were engaged and involved in design changes and their views were listened to and respected.

The service worked collaboratively with healthcare professionals and provided good end of life care. People experienced a comfortable, dignified and pain free death. There were members of staff with the specific skills to understand and meet the needs of people and their families in relation to emotional support and the practical assistance they needed at the end of the person’s life. Staff were also supported by the service with empathy and understanding.

People and relatives consistently told us how they were treated with exceptional warmth, compassion and kindness. All staff told us they felt extremely well supported, valued and felt proud to work for Laurel Care Home. Many staff told us Laurel Care Home was the best home they had ever worked in. People and relatives gave high praise for all aspects of the service and the care and support that they received. One relative told us, "They care for everyone as if they are family. I can't fault them at all, they are simply amazing."

The service was very well-led. The registered manager demonstrated how their open and supportive management style and use of innovative schemes and ideas had sustained continual development and improvement throughout the service. They demonstrated ways of working that improved the outcomes for the people they supported. They were clear about their expectations relating to how the service should be provided and led by example. Staff felt extremely well supported and spoke highly of the registered manager and management team. Staff were passionate, committed and motivated to delivering quality person-centred care to people. Staff were proud of the service and morale was high within Laurel Care Home.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding around the provider’s safeguarding procedures and understood how to recognise potential signs of abuse. People and their relatives told us they felt very safe at Laurel Care Home.

People had detailed assessments completed for them which gave staff clear guidance to ensure people were cared and supported in ways they preferred.

People received personalised care and support in an individualised way, which was planned and delivered to meet their needs. Each person was respected as an individual, with their own social and cultural diversity, values and beliefs.

People’s medicines were being managed safely, stored securely and administered by trained staff.

People were treated with respect, kindness and dignity by a staff team who showed genuine, warmth, compassion and commitment to provide people with the best levels of person centred care.

People and their relatives were fully involved in assessing and planning the care and support they received. People’s ongoing health care needs were continually assessed and people were referred to health professionals when required.

The registered manager and staff team had built effective relationships with external health and social care organisations. People were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People and relatives knew how to make a complaint and felt confident they would be listened to if they needed to raise any concerns. People and relatives were encouraged to share their views about the service which were welcomed and acted upon.

There were a range of audits, policies and procedures in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service and ensure a culture of continuous improvement and learning took place.

More information in Detailed Findings below.

Rating at last inspection: Good (The date the last report was published was 30 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service has remained rated as Good overall.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.