Archived: Manor House Care Home

Updated 13 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.

This unannounced inspection took place on 28 October 2015. The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Prior to our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included previous inspection reports, information received and statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events and the provider is required to send us this by law. We contacted commissioners (who fund the care for some people) of the service and asked them for their views.

During the inspection we spoke with five people who lived at the service and two people who were visiting their relations. We spoke with a visiting healthcare professional, four members of staff and the manager. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We looked at the care records of two people who used the service, four staff files, as well as a range of records relating to the running of the service, which included audits carried out by the registered manager.

Updated 13 January 2016

This inspection took place on 28 October 2015 and was unannounced. Manor House is run by Dr. T.R. Candran and Dr. Q Chandran. The service provides care and support for 25 older adults, including people living with dementia. On the day of our inspection 12 people were using the service. The service is provided across two floors with a passenger lift connecting the two floors.

Although the service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection the current registered manager was planning to relinquish their role and deregister with us. The current deputy manager was undertaking the role of manager and had applied to us to become the 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The risks to people’s safety were not properly assessed. The process for assessing risks for individuals had not been followed. Without robust assessments of risk we could not be certain people were protected from unnecessary risk. Staffing levels were not always sufficient during the day and the manager spent a significant proportion of their time supporting staff providing direct care.

Staff did not always follow the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Some people had their liberty restricted and staff had not undertaken assessments or made appropriate Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS) applications to ensure the restrictions were lawful.

People were not always involved in the planning and reviewing of their care plans but were supported to make day to day decisions about their care. Their views on the quality of the service were not always sought. There was a lack of social activities available for the people who lived in the home.

The quality of the service was not always monitored adequately as quality assurance audits were not robust or thorough and the manager was not supported nor had sufficient time to fulfil their managerial role effectively.

People felt safe living at the home and staff were aware of how to protect people from the risk of abuse. Relevant information about incidents which occurred at the home was shared with the local authority. People received their medicines as prescribed, the management of medicines was safe and people were cared for by staff who had received appropriate training.

People were protected from the risks of inadequate nutrition. Specialist diets were provided if needed. Referrals were made to health care professionals when needed. People felt they could report any concerns to the management team and felt they would be taken seriously. They were treated in a caring and respectful manner and staff delivered support in a relaxed and considerate way.