About the service: Lyncroft Care Home is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection. Lyncroft Care Home provides a service for up to 39 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there 27 people living at the service. Accommodation is provided over two floors and people have access to communal areas. There was extensive planned building work in progress at the time of this inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

¿ People continued to feel safe living at the service. Risks in relation to people’s health, safety and welfare had been identified and action taken where appropriate. Staffing levels were appropriate to meet the needs of the people using the service. Medicines were safely managed. The home was clean and tidy. There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents and learn from these.

¿ Staff were skilled and competent and knew the people they supported well. People’s care, health and cultural needs were identified so staff could meet these. People had their nutritional needs met. People were supported to maintain good health. Staff made referrals to health professionals when required. Staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and ensured people consented to their care.

¿ People continued to receive care from staff who were kind and caring. People’s privacy and dignity was protected and promoted. People had developed positive relationships with staff who had a good understanding of their needs and preferences.

¿ People received person centred care that met their needs. Care plans gave details of how people would like their needs met. People took part in a range of group and one-to-one activities depending on their preferences. People said they knew how to make a complaint if needed.

¿ People, relatives and staff told us the service was well managed and had an open and friendly culture. Staff said the service had a family atmosphere and they felt well-supported. Managers and staff worked in partnership with other agencies to ensure people got the care and support they needed.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 19 August 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor all intelligence received about the service to ensure the next inspection is scheduled accordingly.

Lyncroft Care Home is a home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 39 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. There were 38 people living at the home at the time of this visit. There are internal and external communal areas. Internal areas included two lounge / dining areas and a smaller lounge area. There was a well maintained enclosed garden for people and their visitors to use and a hairdressing room. The home is made up of two storeys and there are accessible bedrooms on both floors with toileting and wash facilities. One bedroom also had a shower. There are communal bath/shower rooms and toilets for people to use.

A previous inspection took place on 6 August 2015 and the service was rated overall as ‘requires improvement’. There were no breaches of the Health and Social Act 2008 (regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. However, we found that the provider ‘required improvement’ under the questions. Is the service safe? Is the service effective? Is the service responsive and is the service well-led?

This unannounced inspection took place on 19 July 2016.

There was no registered manager in place during this inspection. The provider had put a new manager into the home with the view to them becoming 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and report on what we find. Applications were in the process of being made to the local authorising agencies to lawfully restrict people’s liberty where appropriate. Staff demonstrated to us that they respected people’s choices about how they wished to be supported. Staff were able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the MCA and DoLS to ensure that people would not have their freedom restricted in an unlawful manner.

Plans were in place to minimise people’s identified risks and to assist people to live as independent and safe a life as possible. Records were in place for staff to monitor people’s assessed risks, and their support and care needs. Areas for improvements had been identified and on-going improvements were in progress.

People’s nutritional and hydration needs were met.

Arrangements were in place to ensure that people were supported with their prescribed medicines safely. People’s medicines were managed, stored and disposed of appropriately. When required, people were referred to and assisted to access a range of external healthcare professionals. People were supported to maintain their health and well-being.

People were supported by staff in a respectful and kind way. People’s support and care plans gave prompts and guidance to staff on any individual assistance a person may require. However, this had been identified by the manager as an area of required improvement.

People’s care plans included the person’s wishes on how they were to be supported and their likes and dislikes. An activities co-ordinator and staff assisted people with their interests and activities and promoted social inclusion. People’s family and friends were encouraged to visit the home and staff made them welcome.

Staff were trained to provide care and support which met people’s individual needs. The standard of staff members’ work performance was reviewed during supervisions, spot checks and appraisals. This was to make sure that staff were deemed competent and confident by the manager to deliver people’s support and care needs.

Staff understood their responsibility to report any suspicions of harm or poor care practice. There were pre-employment safety checks in place to ensure that

Lyncroft Care Home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 39 older people. Accommodation is provided over two floors and there are various communal areas for people to sit and meet with relatives. There were 35 people living at the home at the time of our inspection.

This unannounced inspection took place on 6 August 2015. This was the first inspection of this service since the change of company on September 2014.

At the time of this inspection the home had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Medicines were managed safely and staff were appropriately trained but the system for ordering medication needed to be improved to ensure that prescribed medication was available at all times.

Ineffective quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the service and audits did not pick up any trends and identify any improvements that could be made to the service.

Staff treated people in a way that people preferred. Staffing levels were adequate to meet the needs of people who used the service to ensure that they received care and support when they needed it.

The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS applications were in progress to ensure people’s rights were protected.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and asked for their consent before providing personal care. Relatives were very happy with the care provided to their family member.

People were offered a limited variety of hobbies and interests to take part in and people were able to change their minds if they did not wish to take part in these.