What the CQC found at Risedale at Aldingham Nursing Home

The home provided highly personalised support to people nearing the end of life and to their families. It had specialist training, an end-of-life strategy and links with a local hospice.

“The service was particularly skilled at caring for and supporting people and their families at the end of life, responding to changing needs and working with other professionals.” from the report

Activities were based on people's interests, history and abilities. Inspectors saw individual and group activities, trips out and support for people living with dementia to take part in meaningful experiences.

“This individualised approach helped people to have a special memory or recall things that had held meaning for them and enabled them to participate in a life-affirming events that mattered to them.” from the report

Staff received induction, ongoing training and opportunities to gain further qualifications. The home worked closely with health professionals, which inspectors said helped meet complex needs.

“We identified that the service had an established and settled staff team, who were well trained, confident and knowledgeable.” from the report

The home used specialist advice and tailored menus to meet different nutritional and swallowing needs. People and relatives spoke positively about the food.

“The home had a well-researched and evidence based system for the planning of people's meals to meet different nutritional requirements and diets such as pureed food.” from the report

Some as-required medicines did not have stock balances carried forward. Inspectors recommended reviewing the process so these medicines could be monitored more effectively.

“Some as required medicines had not had stock balances carried forward for ease of monitoring and we made a recommendation that the service took advice and reviewed their procedure on this for more effective monitoring.” from the report

One person at very high risk of choking, who had experienced choking episodes, did not have their diet recorded and monitored. The manager corrected this during the inspection.

“However, we noted one person who was assessed as at a "very high risk" of choking and had experienced choking episodes but were not having their diet recorded and monitored.” from the report

Three incidents had not been reported to the CQC when they should have been. The provider investigated this as an error and changed its guidance and manager protocols immediately.

“However, on examining the home's records of accidents and incidents we found three incidents that we had not been notified about but should have been.” from the report

Some people did not have their own sling for hoisting. Managers began putting individual slings in place during the inspection because sharing could increase the risk of cross-infection.

“Slings are classed as a medical device and sharing these devices increases the risk to people of cross infection occurring.” from the report