Archived: Elm House Residential Care Home

Updated 22 January 2016

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.

We carried out an unannounced inspection on the 28 August, and visited again announced on 3 September and 5 October 2015. We also carried out an unannounced visit at night time on 1 October 2015. The inspection was carried out by two adult social care inspectors and an expert by experience on the first day, an adult social care inspector and a pharmacist inspector on the second day and one adult social care inspector on the third and fourth days. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information the Care Quality Commission already held about the home. We contacted the local authority safeguarding and commissioning teams before and after the inspection and they shared their current knowledge about the home. During the inspection we spoke with 21of the people who lived at the home together with five of their visiting relatives. We talked with 16 members of staff including 13 members of the care staff team, the cook, the activities coordinator and the registered manager. We also spoke with two visiting doctors and two visiting nurses We looked at six life plans as well as other records and audit documents. We looked around the building including, with the permission of people who used the service, some bedrooms.

Updated 22 January 2016

This inspection took place on the 28 August, 3 September and 1 and 5 October 2015. The inspection was unannounced.

Elm House Residential Care Home is registered to provide accommodation for 40 people who require support and care with their daily lives. The home is located in the town of Nantwich close to shops, public transport and other local amenities. The premises provide purpose built accommodation in 38 single bedrooms and one double bedroom. It is a two storey building and people live on both floors. Communal facilities include bathrooms and WC’s located around the home for convenient access. There are a number of lounges including a large sun lounge and dining area which overlooks the town centre and a hairdressing salon which is used by the visiting hairdresser. Access between floors is by a passenger lift or the stairs. The premises are set within pleasant gardens with an enclosed garden to the rear of the home. Car parking is available to the front and side of the building. On the first day of our inspection there were 31 people living in the home.

The home has a registered manager. 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.

When we carried out our last inspection of the home in July 2013 we found that the provider was meeting all the requirements for a service of this type.

Whilst we found that people were provided with care that was kind and compassionate, the home was not always being managed effectively. There were times when there were insufficient suitably qualified and competent staff on duty, to provide a safe service to the people who lived in the home.

We found that concerns and complaints raised by staff and visiting professionals had not always been responded to effectively, so management were not learning from past events, or taking effective corrective action to improve the service.

Although some people told us they felt safe, we found that management and staff had not always taken effective action to protect vulnerable people from abuse and neglect.

We identified breaches of the relevant regulations in respect of person-centred care, need for consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users, good governance, and staffing. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.