Updated 18 December 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An
Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
Windmill House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
The inspection was unannounced, so the provider, registered manager and staff team did not know we would be visiting. The inspection was completed on the 12 November 2019.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 16 people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including care staff, the deputy manager,
registered manager and the operations manager.
We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We spoke with a visiting health professional who regularly visited the service.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training and support for staff and audits that check the quality of the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.