CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at The Lilacs Residential Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, February 2022
The Lilacs Residential Home was inspected but not rated; inspectors found good infection control and safe visiting arrangements.
This was an announced, targeted inspection on 21 January 2022. Inspectors looked at infection prevention and control, visiting arrangements, and whether COVID-19 staffing pressures were affecting the home.
Inspectors were assured that the home was preventing infections from spreading. They found effective use of personal protective equipment, testing, cleaning, social distancing, shielding, and arrangements for preventing or managing outbreaks.
The home was meeting the requirement for non-exempt staff and visiting professionals to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The service was inspected but not rated, so this report does not give an overall quality rating.
Safe visiting
The home checked visitors' test results and vaccination status, provided information about PPE and hand hygiene, and had a designated visiting area that was regularly cleaned.
“The registered manager ensured there were safe practices in place for peoples' relatives and professionals visiting the service.” from the report
Infection control knowledge
The provider understood how to obtain local infection control advice and how to use zoning, isolation, and cohorting to reduce risks.
“The provider demonstrated a good understanding of when and how to access local infection prevention and control guidance and resources when they needed advice and support.” from the report
Up-to-date policies
The report says the home's COVID-19 infection control policies were current and supported staff to keep people safe.
“Policies and procedures relating to the management of risks associated with COVID-19 were up to date which enabled staff to keep people safe.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How are you managing staffing pressures linked to COVID-19, and have they affected people's care?
- 02What infection prevention and control arrangements are in place now?
- 03How do you currently manage visits, including testing, vaccination checks, PPE, and cleaning of the visiting area?
- 04How do you prevent and manage an infection outbreak in the home?
- 05When was the home's infection prevention and control policy last reviewed?
This was a targeted inspection of infection prevention and control, visiting arrangements, and COVID-19-related staffing pressures; the service was inspected but not rated. This explanation was written from the published report of 8 February 2022 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, February 2020
The Lilacs Residential Home was rated Good; inspectors found kind, safe and personalised care, with some records and activity monitoring needing improvement.
This was an unannounced inspection by one inspector and an Expert-by-Experience. Inspectors spoke with people living there, relatives, staff and visiting healthcare professionals. They also observed care and checked care plans, medicines records, accident records, complaints and quality checks.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines practice, clean and well-maintained surroundings, and good support from healthcare services. People were treated with dignity, involved in decisions and supported to remain independent.
There were some areas still being improved. Inspectors did not always see staff offer a choice of drinks. Some daily care records were too brief, and there were few individual activity records to show consistently that people's social needs were being met. The manager was aware of these points and was taking action.
Kind and personal care
People and relatives spoke positively about the care. Staff knew people's habits and preferences and supported them in a respectful way.
“People and their relatives gave us positive feedback about the quality of care and staff approach.” from the report
Safe staffing and medicines
Inspectors found enough staff, prompt responses to requests for help and safe medicines administration by trained staff.
“People received their medicines when they needed them from appropriately trained staff.” from the report
Choice and independence
People could choose where to spend their time and were supported to make decisions and remain as independent as possible.
“People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests” from the report
Activities and social contact
The home offered activities, themed events, entertainers, some trips and opportunities for people to spend time with family and friends.
“People enjoyed a range of activities and some trips on offer.” from the report
Good links with healthcare
Staff noticed changes in people's health and worked promptly with community nurses and other professionals.
“Staff are pro-active. They always do what is asked quickly and follow up advice.” from the report
Choice of drinks
minorInspectors did not always see staff offer people a choice of drinks. The manager said staff would be reminded, and the use of plastic cups would be reviewed.
“We did not always see staff offer a choice of drinks which we fed back to the registered manager who said they would remind staff.” from the report
Daily care records
needs fixingSome daily records were too brief to show clearly that care had been provided as set out in care plans. The manager was auditing these records.
“The quality of daily records was being audited as some entries were too brief to record that care had been delivered as per the care plans.” from the report
Recording individual activities
needs fixingThere were few records of individual activities and social contact. The manager was developing these records so they could check that people's social needs were being met consistently.
“There were few individual activity records and the registered manager was developing these to ensure they could audit whether individuals' social needs were being met consistently.” from the report
- 01How do you now make sure each person is offered a choice of drinks, and what was the outcome of reviewing the use of plastic cups?
- 02How are daily care records checked to make sure they show that planned care has been provided?
- 03How do you record individual activities and time spent with people who stay in their rooms or cannot use a call bell?
- 04How will you keep our family informed about changes in our relative's health and care needs?
- 05What progress has been made with the dementia-friendly activity programme, the refurbishment and the planned trips out?
This was an unannounced planned inspection based on the previous Good rating and covered all five CQC questions. This explanation was written from the published report of 19 February 2020 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.
Every inspection of The Lilacs Residential Home
3 rated inspections over 5 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- February 2022Inspected but not ratedcurrent ratingSafe: Inspected but not rated
- February 2020Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- June 2017Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- April 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- July 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- June 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- December 2010
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 14 December 2010.
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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17 live-in carers within about an hour of Devon
These are self-employed carers on PrimeCarers, the introductory agency that runs this directory. Each has a profile with their own rates and reviews from families, and you choose who to talk to.
Most charge £1,020 to £1,270 a week. 15 can care for a couple. 13 years' experience on average.
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“She looked after my mum, who can be incredibly challenging, so well and so gently, and we always felt confident that my mum was getting the best care available.”
Every carer has had an enhanced DBS check in the last 18 months, ID and right-to-work checks and an online interview. Their skills and training are for you to check with them. Carers set their own rates, and who is free changes week to week.