Archived: The Alexandra

Updated 18 October 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by two inspectors on the first day and a single inspector on the second day.

Service and service type

Alexandra Centre 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. This service did not provide nursing care.

The service had a manager 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We also spoke with commissioners of the service from the local social services department and clinical commissioning group to obtain their views about the service. We used all of this information to help us plan the inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with seven of the people living in the home, the registered manager and six members of staff.

We reviewed a range of records including two care plans and medicines records, two staff files, staff rotas and training records and other information about the management of the service. This included quality assurance records and audits, medicines records and maintenance of equipment.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. This included contacting health and social care professionals to ask for their view of the service. We received feedback from three health professionals.

We also looked at training data and quality assurance information and analysed everything we had gathered during the inspection.

Updated 18 October 2019

About the service

Alexandra Centre is a care home without nursing for adults with enduring mental health conditions. It is a large converted house set in a residential suburb of Bournemouth. It is registered for up to 14 people. There were 8 people living there at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us that the service provided staff who were caring and supportive. They received care that was responsive to their individual needs and staff had a good understanding of how people preferred to have their care and support provided. People had access to healthcare services and were involved in decisions about their care.

Staff supported people to take medicines safely. Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff understood the actions needed to minimise the risk of avoidable harm including the prevention of avoidable infection. Staff had completed safeguarding training and understood their role in identifying and reporting any concerns of potential abuse or poor practice.

There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs. Safe recruitment practices were followed, and appropriate checks completed to ensure that only suitable staff were employed. Staff received induction and on-going training and support that enabled them to carry out their roles positively and effectively.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People and where appropriate their relatives were involved in decisions about their care.

Governance systems and oversight of the service was robust. Issues were identified, and actions taken to address any shortfalls.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 19 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.