Cliff Court Care Home

Cliff Court care home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 16 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 18 people. Cliff Court care home specialises in looking after people living with dementia. Cliff Court care home is a large detached property split over two floors.

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

People were protected from risk of harm and abuse and staff knew what action to take if they had any concerns. Cliff Court care home was clean, tidy and free from unpleasant odours. There were enough staff working at Cliff Court care home and staff had been recruited safely. Staff understood risk and the need to update care plans and risk assessments with any changes to a person’s support needs. People were supported to take their medicines.

Staff received training relevant to the people they cared for. They were supported with ongoing supervision by the registered manager. People’s health and wellbeing needs were met and they were supported to access health and social care professionals. People’s dietary needs were assessed and people were offered a range of healthy, freshly prepared food each day. Staff sought consent from people. 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. A professional told us, “People have varying degrees of dementia, but everyone is treated fairly, they are never rushed. It’s a very caring home.”

People were treated with respect, compassion and kindness. Staff understood people’s care and support needs and knew what was important to them. People were supported to make their own decisions each day. People’s privacy, dignity and independence were supported.

People’s support was person centred, staff knew people well. A variety of activities were offered each day and people were given the choice to take part or not. A complaints policy and process were in place and people and relatives were confident in raising issues. Complaints were thoroughly investigated.

The registered manager knew people well. She said, “It’s their home. I want them to be happy.” Systems were in place to audit processes to ensure an effective oversight of the service. Cliff Court care home had links with the local community.

Rating at last inspection

Good. (Report published 29 November 2016)

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

The home does not provide nursing care and people who require nursing assistance were supported regularly by the community nursing team.

One provider is also the registered manager in post. 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.

The registered manager was open and approachable and supported people and staff well.

The manager had robust systems in the home to monitor the quality of the service offered to

people.

People told us staff were kind and caring and always respected their privacy and dignity. Several people commented on how helpful staff were. One person said ““It’s lovely here. We please ourselves and staff are so kind.” Another person said “Staff are always kind. We have a laugh.”

People felt well looked after and said the home arranged for them to see healthcare professionals according to their individual needs. A visiting doctor informed us the staff monitored people’s health and always asked for advice if they had any concerns. They said “I have no concerns about the home. They are responsive. They take action and listen to any advice given”

Care was responsive to people’s needs and personalised to their wishes and preferences. People were able to make choices about all aspects of their day to day lives. Staff knew the importance of learning about people’s preferred ways of daily living and supporting them to continue to be independent when possible.

Staff were aware of how to assist people to make decisions if they lacked the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. People were involved in discussions about the care and support they received and were made aware of any risks. The staff responded to changes in people’s needs and adjusted care accordingly.

People enjoyed the food in the home. They had a choice of food and staff catered for people with specific dietary needs and preferences when required. Food was plentiful and the size of people’s meals varied according to their appetite and preferences.

Staff had access to on-going training in health and safety and the specific needs of the people who lived at the home. This made sure staff had the skills and knowledge to safely and effectively support people.

There was a robust recruitment procedure which minimised the risks of abuse to people. Staff had received training in recognising and reporting abuse and were confident that any concerns would be fully investigated to make sure people were protected.

People knew how to make a complaint and everyone told us they would be comfortable to do so. All were confident they would be listened to and action would be taken to address any shortfalls. One person said “The manager listens to us; we can catch her most days. You just mention something and they take it on board.”

We saw that people experienced safe and effective care based on detailed care plans and risk assessments that met individual needs.

People using the service were protected from abuse as they were supported by a staff team who had appropriate knowledge and training on safeguarding adults. People told us if they had any concerns they would report them to a manager or senior person on duty.

Staff received ongoing training and supervision which provided them with the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the people they were supporting.

The provider had effective systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of service.

We also took information from other sources to help us understand the views of people who used the service, which included a satisfaction survey and meeting minutes.

The people we spoke with told us they were happy with the care they received and with the staff team.

One person who used the service told us 'it's nice and quiet here, I get lovely walks out and it [the home] is all clean'. Another person who used the service we spoke with told us 'she [a care worker] is brilliant, she would do anything for you'.

A family member of a person who used the service who was visiting on the day of our visit told us 'I have no complaints, they [their relatives] live here like it's their own home and they get plenty of freedom to do what they want'.

Staff we spoke with knew the people living at the home well and had a good understanding of their support needs.

One member of staff we spoke with told us 'I love the residents and they like it here as well'.