We carried out a review of the data available to us about Autumn House Nursing Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Autumn House Nursing Home, you can give feedback on this service.
Autumn House is a nursing home providing personal and nursing care to up to 67 people. The service provides support to older people some of who are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 60 lived at the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were safeguarded from abuse. There were systems in place to ensure staff understood how to recognise abuse and report any incidents. A risk assessment and care plan were put in place which were reviewed regularly. There were enough staff to follow these plans and minimise risks to people’s safety. Staff were safely recruited and suitably skilled. There was guidance for staff on how to administer medicines which were stored safely and regularly checked. Staff followed infection prevention controls to ensure risks were minimised. Learning from incidents and accidents was in place and where incidents occurred people had their care plans reviewed to prevent future incidents where possible.
Where required other professionals were engaged in providing advice. The care records system used was electronic and allowed staff to be promoted when people needed care and support and to record what had been done for people. Staff received an induction to their role and had regular updates to their training to ensure they understood how to meet people’s needs. People’s needs and preferences were assessed relating to food and drinks and we saw people enjoyed their meals. Drinks were readily available to people. Staff understood people’s health needs and people were supported to have access to health care professionals.
Staff worked as a team and collaborated with other agencies to provide people’s care. There were systems in place to ensure people received consistent care including a hand over process. The environment in the home had been adapted to meet people’s needs and there was a planned programme of updates and refurbishments ongoing at the home. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People were supported by kind and caring staff who understood their needs and supported them to make choices about their care. People were encouraged to remain independent where possible and staff ensured people were treated with dignity and respect.
People had their needs and preferences assessed and this was understood by staff and used to ensure people had person centred care. Communication needs were assessed and where required adjustments were made to help people understand information. People had their future wishes considered for death and dying and staff understood how to support people when they came to the end of their life. People and relatives were able to make complaints and told us they felt these would be addressed.
The provider had systems in place which ensured people received person centred care. There were processes in place to check on the quality of the care people received. People and relatives were involved in the service, individual meetings were held to discuss people and relatives’ views. The staff were supported in their role and had regular opportunities to discuss any training needs with the management team. The registered manager understood their responsibilities with duty of candour and had developed a learning culture in the home. Other agencies were involved in the home with people’s care and their input was included in people’s care plans and any guidance was followed by staff.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 24 April 2019)
Why we inspected
We inspected the service to follow up on concerns from the last inspection.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Autumn House is a residential care home that was providing personal and nursing care to 54 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
Improvements were needed to ensure the newly implemented systems in place to monitor the service were imbedded and sustained. Improvements were needed to ensure medicines were consistently managed safely to protect people from potential harm. Records did not always contain people’s up to date needs and preferences.
People did not always have their legal rights protected as the staff did not have the knowledge to ensure peoples care was delivered in line with the Mental Capacity Act and which people had Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards authorisations in place. People were supported by staff who had not completed training. Improvements were required to ensure peoples holistic needs were being met.
Improvements were required to ensure people received care that was responsive to their own Individual needs, including when they reached end of life. The provider operated a complaints system but improvements were required to ensure all people and their relatives had access to it.
People were supported by safely recruited staff. People were supported by staff that understood their responsibilities to safeguard people from the risk of harm. There were systems in place to ensure lessons were learnt when things went wrong.
People told us they enjoyed the food and had choices to meet their nutritional needs.Staff involved and consulted a range of health and social care professionals to ensure people's healthcare needs were met.
People were supported by caring and compassionate staff who supported people with patience. People’s choices were respected in line with their individual communication needs to promote informed decision making. People’s right to privacy was up held and their independence was promoted.
Feedback was gained from people, relatives and staff, which was used to make improvements to people’s care. The provider had recognised that improvements were needed at the service and had started to implement changes to the way the service was managed. The provider had a clear vision for the future of the service.
Rating at last inspection:
This was the first ratings inspection since the provider registered on 25 October 2017.
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection to assess whether the provider was meeting the meeting the required standards and to provide a rating.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk