We carried out an unannounced inspection of Glenwood Care Home on 14 December 2015.
The home is purpose built and provides nursing care, support and accommodation for up to 12 people with a learning disability who may also have a physical disability. The home comprises two six bedded bungalows with a connecting link corridor and conservatory. At the time of the inspection there were five permanent residents and another permanent resident was in hospital. Another person was there for long term respite care. The home also provides care for four other people on a short term respite basis and on the day of the inspection one of these people was just going home and another came in later that day.
There was a registered manager in post. 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.
Prior to this inspection we received feedback from the local authority contract monitoring team and during the inspection we spoke with a visiting health care professional to seek their views of the service. They did not have any concerns about the care.
We found breaches in the regulations related to fire safety and maintenance of the premises. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
The experiences of people who lived at the home were positive.
People’s needs were assessed and plans were developed to identify what care and support people required to maintain their health and wellbeing and foster their independence where possible.
People were protected from abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about the risks of abuse and reporting procedures. We found there were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and that safe and effective recruitment practices were followed.
Some people who used the service did not have the ability to make decisions about some parts of their care and support. Staff had an understanding of the systems in place to protect people who could not make decisions and followed the legal requirements outlined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
Staff had good relationships with people who lived at the home and were attentive to their needs. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity at all times and interacted with people in a caring, respectful and professional manner.
People’s health care needs were met and their medicines were administered appropriately. Staff supported people to attend healthcare appointments and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals as required to meet people’s needs. People were appropriately supported and had sufficient food and drink to maintain a healthy diet.
Staff received suitable induction and training to meet the needs of people living at the home. Staff were well supported by the manager. This meant people were being cared for by suitably qualified, supported and trained staff.
There were systems and processes in place to monitor the quality of the service. Audits were carried out and where shortfalls were identified the manager was using the information to improve the service. This demonstrated that it was a learning organisation.