CQC report explained · a nursing home
What the CQC found at Marnel Lodge Care Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- Inspectors found robust risk assessments, enough staff, suitable recruitment checks and appropriate medicines management. The home was clean, and accidents and incidents were investigated.
- Effective?
- Good
- Staff were trained and supported, including in dementia care. People received suitable food and drink, healthcare referrals and support based on current guidance.
- Caring?
- Good
- People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect. Staff supported people to make choices, stay independent and maintain their mobility.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care records were detailed and personalised. The home provided activities, communication support, complaint handling and compassionate end of life care.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Inspectors found an open and positive culture, regular meetings and audits, and good involvement of people, relatives and staff. The home had systems to monitor and improve care.
What inspectors found, December 2019
Marnel Lodge Care Home was rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with some recent improvements still being assessed.
This was an unannounced inspection on 30 September and 4 October 2019. Inspectors spoke with people living in the home, relatives, staff and healthcare professionals. They also observed care and checked care, medicines, staffing and management records.
The home was caring for 61 people, most of whom were living with dementia. Inspectors found good standards in all five areas: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. They found suitable staffing and recruitment checks, safe medicines practice, good training, personalised care and appropriate support with food, activities and end of life care.
The home was clean and staff understood people's risks and needs. Recent changes included new activity areas and interactive equipment, but inspectors said more assessment was needed to see how much these changes improved people's lives. The overall Good rating was unchanged from the previous inspection, published on 5 May 2017.
Safe care and medicines
Inspectors found that risks were assessed and managed, staffing was sufficient and medicines were handled appropriately.
“Medicines were ordered, stored, administered and disposed of appropriately.” from the report
Staff training
Staff had dementia training, a four-day induction and ongoing supervision. Inspectors received positive feedback about their skills.
“All staff members had received training in caring for people living with dementia.” from the report
Kind and respectful support
People were not rushed and were supported with dignity. Staff encouraged independence and helped people remain mobile.
“We observed staff to provide kind and compassionate support to people during the inspection.” from the report
Personalised activities
The home offered different activities and supported people to continue interests that mattered to them, including gardening and reminiscence activities.
“People were supported to continue with activities that were meaningful to them as much as possible.” from the report
End of life care
People receiving end of life care had their symptoms monitored and were supported to remain comfortable. Relatives were also supported.
“People were supported appropriately, and their symptoms were closely monitored to ensure people remained comfortable.” from the report
Recent activity changes needed checking
minorSeveral new areas and interactive activities had only recently been introduced. Inspectors said more assessment was needed to understand their impact on people's quality of life.
“Many of the changes to the areas in the home and interactive activities were recent at the time of the inspection.” from the report
- 01How many staff are available on each shift, including at night, and how do you make sure staffing remains sufficient?
- 02What dementia training has each member of staff completed, and how is their practice checked?
- 03What evidence do you now have that the new activity areas, clubs and interactive equipment have improved people's quality of life?
- 04How would you support my relative's particular mobility, nutrition, communication and medicines needs?
- 05How are relatives involved in care decisions and kept informed if their relative's health or end of life needs change?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five CQC questions and both the care and premises of the home; all five ratings were given as Good. This explanation was written from the published report of 5 December 2019 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
What inspectors found, May 2017
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with earlier medicines and record-keeping problems improved.
This was an unannounced inspection on 18 and 19 January 2017. Inspectors spoke with people living at the home, relatives, staff and health professionals. They observed care and mealtimes, checked medicines, care plans, staff records, rotas, complaints and quality checks.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found that people were protected from abuse, risks were assessed, medicines were managed safely and staff had suitable training.
People were treated with kindness and respect. Care plans described people's needs and preferences, staff supported activities and meals, and the home responded to health changes and complaints.
At the previous inspection in September 2015, the provider had breached regulations about medicines and care records. Inspectors found that the required improvements had been made and that the provider was meeting those regulations at this inspection.
Medicines were safer
Inspectors found that medicines were stored, administered and recorded safely. Nurses' competence was checked regularly.
“Action had been taken and records showed the provider was now meeting the requirements of the regulation.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Staff built friendly relationships and supported people's privacy, dignity and choices.
“Staff were compassionate and caring in their approach with people, supporting them in a kind and sensitive manner.” from the report
Personalised care plans
Care plans included people's needs, preferences, interests and guidance for responding to changes in health or wellbeing.
“People's care plans and daily documentation were legible and person centred.” from the report
Activities and social contact
The home offered regular activities, including one-to-one sessions, clubs, entertainment and visits from outside groups.
“People were supported to participate in activities to enable them to live meaningful lives and prevent them experiencing social isolation.” from the report
Visible leadership
Inspectors found an open culture where staff, people and relatives could raise concerns. Feedback and quality checks were used to improve the home.
“The registered manager provided strong positive leadership and promoted the providers values.” from the report
Weekend staffing cover
needs fixingStaff said that short-notice sickness at weekends could sometimes leave too few staff available, meaning people might wait longer for care. Inspectors saw that people's needs were met during the visit, and the manager was working to reduce repeat problems.
“During the inspection some staff raised concerns there were not always sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people's needs in a timely way at the weekends” from the report
Relatives' view of staffing
needs fixingThe home's survey found that relatives were less positive than people using the service about staff availability. The manager had introduced measures to make staffing more visible and manage breaks differently.
“only 39% of relatives felt there were enough staff to meet the needs of residents.” from the report
- 01How do you cover sickness at weekends, especially when staff are unable to work at short notice?
- 02How do you check that there are enough staff on each shift to meet people's needs promptly?
- 03What regular checks now confirm that medicines are stored, administered and recorded safely?
- 04How do you make sure care records, food and fluid charts and equipment checks are completed fully and on time?
- 05What progress has been made with the dementia training and improvements to the environment?
This was an unannounced comprehensive inspection covering all five CQC questions; it also checked whether earlier breaches about medicines and care records had been addressed. This explanation was written from the published report of 5 May 2017 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk. The report was longer than we could read in one go; the later sections may not be reflected.
Every inspection of Marnel Lodge Care Home
3 rated inspections over 4 years: the service has improved, from Requires improvement to Good.
- December 2019Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- May 2017Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- November 2015Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- July 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- September 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- October 2011
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2011
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 16 March 2011.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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