What the CQC found at Polesworth Group Friary Road

People were relaxed with staff who knew them well. Staff promoted choice, privacy and independence.

“Staff were polite to people, had a caring attitude and promoted people to make choices.” from the report

Care plans included people's interests, preferences and communication needs. Staff supported people to take part in activities they enjoyed.

“People's needs were assessed and everyone had an individual plan of care.” from the report

The staff team had worked at the home for several years and had completed the required training and refresher updates.

“The care staff team of five had all worked at the home for several years, and had completed all of the training they needed” from the report

People were supported with healthy eating, medicines and visits to healthcare professionals.

“Staff supported people to visit healthcare professionals when needed.” from the report

The provider and manager used audits, monitoring visits and feedback to identify and address improvements.

“There was an effective system of internal audits and checks undertaken within the home to ensure the safety and quality of the service was maintained.” from the report

Some shifts had previously been covered by one staff member, while people's needs were changing. The provider was recruiting and planned to have two staff on daytime shifts consistently.

“The provider had recognised some people's changing needs and had begun to look at staffing arrangements for shifts.” from the report

One person moved cooked food around the home, creating a possible food safety risk. The manager planned to store high-risk food in a locked garage fridge.

“The registered manager was taking immediate action to ensure all high-risk foods were stored in a fridge located in the locked garage.” from the report

Some shared bathrooms did not have paper towels and used a shared cotton towel. Staff were told to change it during shifts to reduce infection risks.

“Some communal bathroom facilities did not have paper towels and a shared communal cotton towel increased potential risks of cross infection.” from the report

Shared ground-floor toilets did not have locks when inspected. Action was being taken to address this.

“The chief executive officer had recently identified shared ground floor toilets did not have locks fitted for people to use” from the report