The inspection visit at The Highcroft Care Home took place on 04 October 2017 and was unannounced.The Highcroft Care Home is situated in a residential area of Blackpool. Accommodation is provided in single rooms. There are two communal lounge, dining room and garden areas to the rear of the premises. Parking facilities are at the front of the home. The service is registered to provide care for people without nursing needs. At the time of the visit, 23 people lived at the home.
The service had a registered manager in place. 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.
At the last inspection on 04 February 2016, we found the provider was meeting the requirements of the regulations that were inspected.
At this inspection, staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they were competent and had the skills required. However, there had been occasions when staff had failed to sign medication administration recording forms to indicate medicines had been administered. Protocols related to the management of medicine stock were safe but not consistently followed.
This was a breach of Regulation 12 of Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Safe Care and Treatment. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
Care plans were organised and identified the care and support people required. We found they were informative about care people had received. They had been kept under review and updated when necessary to reflect people’s changing needs. However, we observed two occasions when staff did not follow documented instructions on how to support people safely.
We have made a recommendation the service ensure staff knowledge on how to meet people’s care and support needs is accurate.
During this inspection, we noted the provider had systems that ensured people who lived at the home were safe. We found staff were knowledgeable about support needs of people in their care. They were aware of what help people needed to manage risks and remain safe.
Records we looked at indicated staff had received safeguarding training related to the identification and prevention of abusive practices. They understood their responsibilities to report any unsafe care or abusive practices related to safeguarding of adults who could be vulnerable.
Staff received further training related to their role and were knowledgeable about their responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs. One person who lived at The Highcroft Care Home, “I feel as safe as houses.”
The provider had recruitment and selection procedures to minimise the risk of inappropriate employees working with people who may be vulnerable. Checks had been completed prior to any staff commencing work at the service. This was confirmed from discussions with staff and records we looked at.
We found staffing levels were suitable with an appropriate skill mix to meet the needs of people who lived at the home. The deployment of staff was organised directing staff with their allocated tasks.
Family members told us they were involved in their relatives care and had discussed and consented to their care. We found staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
Relatives told us and observations indicated people were happy with the variety and choice of meals available to them. We saw regular snacks and drinks were provided between meals to ensure people received adequate nutrition and hydration. One person commented, “The food is very good we get a reasonable amount of choice.”
Comments we received, and feedback we read, demonstrated relatives were satisfied with the care delivered. The provider and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. They were committed to providing a good standard of care and support to people who lived at the home.
We found people had access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs were met. There were established relationships with community based health professionals. We saw the management team had responded promptly when people had experienced health problems.
A complaints procedure was available and people and their relatives we spoke with said they knew how to complain. Staff spoken with felt the registered manager was accessible, supportive and approachable.
The manager had sought feedback from people, relatives and staff to monitor the quality of the service. These included, staff and resident meetings and relative and friends surveys. The registered provider completed a range of audits to maintain people’s quality of life, keep them safe and manage risk.