Tara's Retreat Care Home

Updated 19 February 2022

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 02 February 2022 and was unannounced.

Updated 19 February 2022

The inspection took place on 23 May 2018 and was unannounced.

Tara's Retreat is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. They are registered to provide accommodation and treatment for up to 46 people, some of whom live with Dementia.

At our last inspection on 31 March 2016, we rated the service Good. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The home had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 told us they felt safe at the service and there were appropriate risk management arrangements in place to help keep people safe. There was a robust recruitment process in place with sufficient deployed to ensure that people’s needs were met when required.

Staff received a comprehensive induction to the service when their employment commenced and they continued to receive regular training and updates as required. This gave staff the skills and information they needed to support people effectively and safely.

People`s medicines were managed safely by staff who had received training and had their competencies checked. Care plans were comprehensive and provided staff with detailed information. People, where they were able and or family were involved in the development and review of people's care plans.

Staff asked people for their consent before they provided support. Where people were unable to consent verbally, staff took time to get their consent through other means such as eye contact or body language. The management and staff worked in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) principles and associated deprivation of liberty safeguards DoLS.

People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring and we observed staff supported people with compassion and were patient. Staff were aware of people`s likes, dislikes and preferences and delivered care and support in accordance to people`s wishes.

People were provided with opportunities to engage in social activities of interest to them. The environment and the grounds were well maintained and provided people with opportunities to utilise the surrounding garden areas as well as al fresco dining if people wished. The décor was appropriate for people who lived with Dementia with plenty of stimulating objects for people to engage with. Memory boxes and memorabilia were placed in corridors and outside people’s bedrooms to help them recognise their environment.

The Management was open, transparent and inclusive and we observed visible and effective leadership within the service. The service was effectively managed. The registered manager was supported by deputy and assistant manager who effectively as a team.

The management team provided people with a range of opportunities to provide feedback and comment upon the service in order to continually make improvements. There was a comprehensive range of quality monitoring checks completed with an action plan in place to address any shortfalls.

At the time of our inspection, the home was having some building and refurbishment work done. We noted risk assessments were in place. The work was planned to minimise inconvenience to people who used the service.