Alandale Residential Home

Alandale Residential Home provides personal care for up to 35 older people, including individuals living with dementia. During a recent inspection prompted by feedback and standard procedures, inspectors evaluated specific aspects of the service. Overall, residents and their families shared warm, positive feedback, praising the supportive staff, engaging daily activities, and a welcoming atmosphere. Families expressed peace of mind, noting that their loved ones appeared happy, well-fed, and cared for in a warm environment. However, the inspection highlighted important areas requiring closer management attention and structured improvements across daily operations.

When it comes to safety, practice needs strengthening, particularly around medication management, where staff missed recording certain details, stored medicated creams in rooms without proper risk assessments, and let stock records slip. Infection control also fell short, with used personal protective equipment and continence aids disposed of incorrectly in open bins, alongside a rusty bath hoist. Furthermore, risk management lacked precision, as daily logs for skin care were inconsistent, choking guidance was missing, and accident records were split across systems without trend analysis.

On the effective side, staff worked well within legal frameworks regarding mental capacity, ensuring residents made daily choices like selecting their own clothes, and properly coordinated care with external health professionals such as district nurses.

The caring aspect stood out through strong, reassuring relationships between the team, residents, and their families. Relatives appreciated regular updates, approachable management, and the dedication of staff who successfully supported residents through complex health milestones.

For responsiveness, care plans and risk assessments were not always updated promptly when people's health needs changed, and daily monitoring records for specific conditions like catheter care lacked thoroughness.

Finally, leadership and governance require more robust internal auditing. While staff and managers created a positive, inclusive workplace culture, the leadership team lacked formal, routine audits to catch oversights in medicine storage, accident trends, and health and safety checks.