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Care Services

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Acorn Heights Care Home, Burnley.

Acorn Heights Care Home in Burnley is a Residential home specialising in the provision of services relating to accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, caring for adults over 65 yrs, caring for adults under 65 yrs, dementia, learning disabilities and mental health conditions. The last inspection date here was 25th April 2018

Acorn Heights Care Home is managed by S.J. Care Homes (Wallasey) Limited who are also responsible for 1 other location

Contact Details:

    Address:
      Acorn Heights Care Home
      147 Manchester Road
      Burnley
      BB11 4HT
      United Kingdom
    Telephone:
      01282422500

Ratings:

For a guide to the ratings, click here.

Safe: Good
Effective: Good
Caring: Good
Responsive: Good
Well-Led: Good
Overall: Good

Further Details:

Important Dates:

    Last Inspection 2018-04-25
    Last Published 2018-04-25

Local Authority:

    Lancashire

Link to this page:

    HTML   BBCode

Inspection Reports:

Click the title bar on any of the report introductions below to read the full entry. If there is a PDF icon, click it to download the full report.

10th April 2018 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

We carried out an inspection of Acorn Heights Care Home on 10 and 11 April 2018. The first day was unannounced.

At our last inspection of 12 and 13 April 2017 our findings demonstrated there were six continued breaches of the regulations in respect of the assessment and management of risks, care planning, environment, Deprivation of Liberty processes, recruitment processes and quality assurance systems. Following the last inspection we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do to improve the service to at least good and by when.

Following the last inspection the clinical commissioning group medicines optimisation team and local commissioners of services had worked with the management team and staff to support them with improvements.

During this inspection we found that improvements had been made and all regulations were being met.

The registered manager had been in post since April 2017 and registered with the Care Quality Commission in August 2017. 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.

Acorn Heights Care Home provides accommodation and care and support for up to 22 people, some of who were living with dementia or mental ill health. There were 22 people accommodated in the home at the time of the inspection.

Acorn Heights Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Acorn Heights Care Home is located on a main road close to the town centre facilities of Burnley. It is an older detached house with facilities on two floors. There is a small car parking area to the front of the home and an enclosed patio and smoking area to the rear.

During this inspection we found new quality assurance and auditing processes had been introduced to help the provider and the registered manager to effectively identify and respond to matters needing attention. The systems to obtain the views of people, their visitors and staff had been improved. People felt their views and choices were listened to and they were kept up to date with any changes.

The management team and staff had worked hard to introduce much needed changes and improvements. People and staff were happy with the improvements that had been made and considered the service was managed well. Communication had improved and people felt they had been involved in decisions and consulted about any changes.

People were happy with the personal care and support they received and made positive comments about the staff. They told us they felt safe and happy in the home and staff were caring. People were comfortable in the company of staff and it was clear they had developed positive trusting relationships with them. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse.

Records relating to people's care and support had improved. The information in people's care plans was sufficiently detailed to ensure they were at the centre of their care. People's care and support was kept under review and they were involved in decisions about their care. Risks to people's health and safety had been identified, assessed and managed safely. Relevant health and social care professionals provided advice and support when people's needs changed.

Improvements had been made to ensure the home was a clean, safe and comfortable place for people to live in. Appropriate aids and adaptations had been provided to help maintain people's safety, independence and comfort.

The recruitment of new staff had improved. A safe and robust recruitment procedure was foll

12th April 2017 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

We carried out an inspection of Sun Hill Private Residential Home on the 12 and 13 April 2017. The first day was unannounced.

Sun Hill Private Residential Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people living with dementia or mental ill health. The home is an extended older type property situated in its own gardens in a residential area of Burnley. Public transport is easily accessible and the town centre is within walking distance. There were 17 people accommodated in the home at the time of the inspection.

The service did not have a registered manager in post. The previous registered manager left the service in November 2016 following enforcement action being taken by the Commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 recent manager had been in post since 3 April 2017 and an application to register her with the CQC had been downloaded.

At the previous comprehensive inspection on the 9, 10, 17 and 26 August 2016. We found the provider was not meeting fourteen regulations. We asked the provider to take action in relation to the management of medicines, assessment and management of risks, infection control practices, care planning and meeting nutritional needs, maintaining people's dignity and personal appearance, environment, staff training, complaints processes, Deprivation of Liberty processes, recruitment processes, staffing numbers, induction and supervision and quality assurance systems.

At the previous comprehensive inspection on the 9, 10, 17 and 26 August 2016 the overall rating for this service was 'Inadequate' and the service was placed in 'special measures'. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timescale.

Following the inspection, the provider sent us an action plan which set out the actions they intended to take to improve the service.

On 7 December 2016 we undertook a focused inspection of the service to check on the provider's progress. At that time the local authority management team were supporting managers and staff at the home and we found a number of improvements were ongoing. However many of these changes were in their infancy and needed to be embedded into practice at the home. We therefore could not improve the rating for safe from inadequate because to do so requires consistent good practice over time.

From September 2016 regular quality improvement meetings had been held with the registered persons, CQC, the police, the safeguarding team, the police and commissioners of services. Following the inspection of 9, 10, 17 and 26 August 2016 the provider voluntarily suspended any further admissions to the home until commissioners and CQC were satisfied that significant improvements had been made. The medicines management team, infection control team and local authority commissioners and managers worked with the provider, managers and staff to support them with improving the service. A further quality improvement meeting was held in April 2017. Feedback from the meeting was positive regarding improvements made so far and an action plan was available to support further improvements. The local authority suspension on admissions was lifted. At the time of this inspection investigations by the local authority safeguarding team and the police were ongoing.

During this inspection we found improvements had been made and new systems had been introduced to make sure people were safe

7th December 2016 - During an inspection to make sure that the improvements required had been made pdf icon

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on the 9, 10, 17 and 26 August 2016. Breaches of legal requirements were found. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the management of medicines, assessment and management of risks, infection control practices, care planning and meeting nutritional needs, maintaining people’s dignity and personal appearance, environment, staff training, complaints processes, Deprivation of Liberty processes, recruitment processes, staffing numbers, induction and supervision and quality assurance systems.

The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'special measures'. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timescale.

If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.

For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.

We undertook this focused inspection on 7 December 2016 to check on the provider’s progress. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Sun Hill Private Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Meetings had been held with the registered persons, Care Quality Commission (CQC), the safeguarding team and commissioners of services. At the time of this inspection there were a number of safeguarding concerns which were currently under investigation by the local authority safeguarding team and other agencies. At the time of this inspection there was a suspension on any further admissions to the home until commissioners and the Care Quality Commission were satisfied that significant improvements had been made.

During this inspection visit we found a number of improvements were ongoing. However many of these changes were in their infancy and needed to be embedded into practice at the home. We therefore could not improve the rating for safe from inadequate because to do so requires consistent good practice over time. We will check this during our next planned comprehensive inspection.

Sun Hill Private Residential Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people living with dementia or mental ill health. The home is an extended older type property situated in its own gardens in a residential area of Burnley. Public transport is easily accessible and the town centre is within walking distance. There were 17 people living in the home at the time of the inspection.

The manager who was registered with the commiss

9th August 2016 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

We carried out an unannounced inspection of Sun Hill Private Residential Care Home on the 9, 10, 17 and 26 August 2016. The first day was unannounced.

Sun Hill Private Residential Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people living with dementia or mental ill health. The home is an extended older type property situated in its own gardens in a residential area of Burnley. Public transport is easily accessible and the town centre is within walking distance. There were 22 people accommodated in the home at the time of the inspection.

At the previous inspection on 12 September 2014 we found the service was meeting all the standards assessed.

During this inspection we found fourteen breaches of the current regulations relating to the management of medicines, assessment and management of risks, infection control practices, care planning and meeting nutritional needs, maintaining people’s dignity and personal appearance, environment, staff training, complaints processes, Deprivation of Liberty processes, recruitment processes, staffing numbers, induction and supervision and quality assurance systems.

The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'special measures'. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timescale.

If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.

For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.

The service was managed by a 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Whilst people and their visitors told us they did not have any concerns about the way they or their relatives were cared for, this was contrary to our findings during the inspection.

Staff were aware of the action they would take if they witnessed or suspected any abusive or neglectful practice. However, not all staff had completed training on safeguarding vulnerable adults.

We saw people being asked to give their consent to care and staff were aware of people’s capacity to make choices and decisions about their lives. However, this was not always clearly recorded in the care plans. The registered manager had an awareness of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards although procedures had not always been followed at all times.

Significant improvements were needed to ensure

17th September 2014 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

We spoke with six people who used the service. We also spoke with the registered manager and five other members of staff. We looked at six people's care records. Other records we looked at included complaints, staff training and rotas, quality assurance and health and safety checks.

We considered all the evidence we had gathered under the outcomes we inspected. We used the information to answer the five questions we always ask:

Is the service safe?

Is the service effective?

Is the service caring?

Is the service responsive?

Is the service well led?

This is a summary of what we found:

Is the service safe?

CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. Suitable policies and procedures were in place and staff had been trained to understand their responsibilities under the DoLS Codes of Practice.

Care records and our observation of staff provided evidence of good practice in applying the least restrictive options to promote and maintain an individual’s independence.

People told us they felt safe and we saw that there were systems in place to make sure staff learned from events such as accidents and incidents, and complaints and concerns,. This reduced the risks to people and helped the service to continually improve.

Is the service effective?

The service took into account people's care needs when making decisions about the numbers of staff and their qualifications, skills and experience required to cover the rotas.

We looked at a sample of people's care plans and saw evidence to show where possible, people had been involved in developing their care records. This meant they received care and treatment in a way they preferred.

Is the service caring?

People's care needs were assessed by the staff along with people who used the service and/or their family members or representative. People were involved in developing their own care records. We saw that they reflected their current needs and we saw they were up to date.

We saw people being supported by staff who demonstrated empathy and listened to what the person wanted.

People's preferences, interests and diverse needs had been recorded and care and support had been provided in accordance with people's wishes.

People who used the service told us they were happy living at the home.

Is the service responsive?

People who used the service were provided with the opportunity to participate in activities which interested them. People's choices were taken in to account and listened to.

People's care records showed that where concerns about their wellbeing had been

identified the staff had taken appropriate action to ensure that people were provided with the support they needed. This included seeking support and guidance from health and social care professionals, including doctors, district nurses, social workers and mental health professionals.

People we spoke with knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy. The service worked well with other agencies and services to make sure people received care they needed.

The registered manager was able to access all the information we asked for on the day of our visit in order for us to make our judgements.

Is the service well-led?

Sun Hill Private Residential Care Home had a statement of purpose that covered resident’s rights, privacy, dignity, independence, choice and complaints.

Staff told us they were clear about their roles and responsibilities. We reviewed the

minutes from staff meetings which showed that the management team had consulted with staff before implementing changes in the service. This helped to ensure that people were provided with a good quality service.

The service had an effective quality assurance system and records reviewed by us

showed that identified shortfalls were addressed promptly. As a result the quality of the service was continuingly improving.

4th October 2013 - During an inspection to make sure that the improvements required had been made pdf icon

We found that improvements to the system for monitoring the quality of the service provided had been made. There was evidence to demonstrate that where possible people were involved in the care planning process.

26th June 2013 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

People who were able to express their views told us that they liked living at Sun Hill. One person said, “They look after you well.” We saw that members of staff were courteous and attentive to people’s needs.

People said they enjoyed the meals and there was a choice of menu. People’s weight was monitored and when necessary advice was sought from other healthcare professionals.

We found that the home was clean, tidy and free from offensive odours.

Members of staff told us they received the training and support they needed in order to provide safe and appropriate care for people using the service.

We noted that systems were in place to monitor some aspects of the quality of the service provided. However, this did not include care planning or infection control.

21st September 2012 - During an inspection to make sure that the improvements required had been made pdf icon

Our inspection of 20 April 2012 found that improvements were necessary in the way medication was managed and the environment.

At this inspection we found that people were being given their medicines as prescribed by the doctor and they lived in a safe and comfortable environment.

20th April 2012 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

All the people we asked who were able to express an opinion told us they were satisfied with the care provided. One visitor told us she was happy with the care given to her relative and said, “The staff are very obliging.”

We observed members of staff attending to people in a professional and courteous manner.

It was of concern that the nurse call system had not been working for several months. This put people using the service at risk because they could not easily summon a member of staff when they needed assistance.

Since our last inspection recruitment procedures have improved and two written references and a Criminal Records Bureau Check were obtained before new members of staff started working at the home.

People using the service were given the opportunity to express their views about the home at meetings held every three months.

8th September 2011 - During an inspection in response to concerns pdf icon

People told us the meals were good. They were offered two choices for the main meals and alternatives to the menu were readily available.

Care workers were observed speaking to people in a friendly and courteous manner. People told us members of staff were helpful and treated them with respect.

Activities were routinely organised at the home. People also enjoyed knitting, reading and watching television.

20th June 2011 - During an inspection in response to concerns pdf icon

When we visited, we were unable to talk directly with people living at Sun Hill about their medicine. However, people generally received their medications, including creams, as prescribed.

We heard the care workers talking to people kindly and patiently.

1st January 1970 - During a routine inspection pdf icon

People using the service told us that they liked living at Sun Hill.

One person said, "I like laughing and joking with staff."

Another person said, "I've got a lovely bedroom and the staff are great."

One visitor told us they were happy with the care provided and said, "The staff are brilliant."

Another visitor said, "The staff are very caring."

People said they could choose when to get up and go to bed.

People told us they had two choices for all meals. One person said, "They will try anything you ask them to do." Another person said, "The food's lovely."

People said they enjoyed taking part in the activities organised at Sun Hill. One lady told us the activities co-ordinator was a lovely person.

 

 

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