Archived: Jack Sears House Residential Home

A registered manager was employed to manage the service. 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.

People’s medicines were administered in people’s preferred way and on time. However, there was no guidance for staff about when to administer people’s medicines that were prescribed to be taken, ‘as required’ The registered manager told us they would ensure this information was recorded. When staff administered medicines, they left the keys for people’s medicine’s cabinets along with information about their medicines, in the corridor. This meant they were not held safely. The registered manager told us they would ensure, in the future, that staff kept confidential records, and keys to people’s medicines cabinets, with them at all times so no-one else could have access to them.

People told us they felt safe using the service. There were risk assessments in place to help reduce any risks related to people’s care and support needs. Staff had received training in how to recognise and report abuse and were confident any allegations would be taken seriously and investigated to help ensure people were protected.

There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of people who used the service. Due to recent difficulties recruiting sufficient numbers of staff, the registered manager and provider had decided not to accept new people to the home, to ensure the continued safety of the people already living there. The recruitment process of new staff was robust.

People received support from staff who knew them well and had the knowledge and skills to meet their needs. People and their relatives spoke highly of the staff and the support provided. Comments included, “The staff are very professional” and “The staff are lovely and caring. They’d do anything for you. You know they’ll look after you.”

The registered manager and staff had attended training on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) applications had been made appropriately. The registered manager told us they would ensure that, where necessary, people had mental capacity assessments in place and related guidance for staff was added to people’s care plans.

There was a management structure in the service which provided clear lines of responsibility and accountability. A registered manager was in post who had overall responsibility for the service. They were supported by other senior staff who had designated responsibilities.

Feedback received by the service and outcomes from audits were used to aid learning and drive improvement across the service. The manager and staff monitored the quality of the service by regularly undertaking a range of audits and speaking with people to ensure they were happy with the service they received. People and their relatives told us the management team were approachable and included them in discussions about their care and the running of the service.

We saw that people's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.

We observed that people were enjoying their lunch time meal and those able to respond told us meals were good and that alternatives were provided if they requested them.

People told us that staff were kind and caring and that there was always someone around to provide help and support.

Staff told us that they had received safeguarding training and were able to say what action they would take if concerns were raised or observed.

The relative that we spoke with said that they felt staff were available whenever their family member needed assistance. They also said that staff were very pleasant and had the necessary time to meet people's needs. Comments from staff included "we work well together" and "the good outweighs the bad a million to one".

People said that they had no complaints about the service and that if they did they would speak to the staff or the manager. They said that they were sure that their comments and complaints would be listened to and acted on effectively.

We found the home to be clean and tidy throughout. People told us that if they wanted to make comments, raise concerns or complaints they were confident that they would be listened to and appropriate action would be taken where possible.

We looked at the arrangements in place to support the staff team to do their jobs and found that staff were well trained and their work practice was supervised.