Woodview House Nursing Home

Updated 27 October 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of three inspectors and a specialist nurse adviser.

Service and service type

Woodview House Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

On arrival at the inspection, we were told the registered manager had very recently resigned from their post and were therefore not present during the inspection. Day to day management responsibilities were covered by a service manager from one of the provider’s other services, the operations manager and a quality manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 10 May 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We are improving how we hear people’s experience and views on services, when they have limited verbal communication. We have trained some CQC team members to use a symbol-based communication tool. We checked that this was a suitable communication method, and that people were happy to use it with us. We did this by reading their care and communication plans and speaking to staff or relatives and the person themselves. In this report, we used this communication tool with one person to tell us their experience.

We spoke with two service users and one relative. We also spoke with two relatives over the phone following inspection. We spoke with 12 members of staff, including the service manager, the quality manager, operations manager, the deputy manager, nurses, care staff [including agency staff], the cook, the activities co-ordinator and members of staff from the housekeeping team. We also looked at seven care records and a number of medication records. We looked at two staff files, training records and a variety of audits. 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.

Updated 27 October 2022

About the service

Woodview House Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care and support for up to 24 older people, some of whom live with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 19 people using the service. Woodview House Nursing home accommodates up to 24 people on one floor across three separate wings.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

On arrival at the inspection we were informed the registered manager had very recently resigned. There were a team of managers in place to support the service during this period whilst the role was advertised.

Systems and processes in place did not provide effective oversight of the service and had failed to identify a number of concerns that came to light during the inspection.

The introduction of an electronic recording system for medication and care records was not robust which meant the provider could not be confident staff were provided with all the information they required in order to meet people’s care needs effectively and safely.

Medication audits had failed to identify a number of areas for improvement. The completion of charts that monitored people’s care needs was not robust. Accidents and incidents were reported and acted on appropriately, but not analysed for any lessons to be learnt.

Staff felt supported in their role but had not had their competencies checked and had not received supervision.

People felt safe and were supported by a consistent group of staff who knew them well. Where safeguarding concerns had been raised, appropriate actions were taken.

Staff treated people with kindness and respected their dignity when supporting them.

Staff were aware of the latest government guidance regarding infection prevention control. A recent infection control audit had identified a number of areas for improvement and an action plan was in place to address these.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported to take part in activities that were of interest to them and work was ongoing to collect more information from people regarding how they wished to spend their time.

Staff had been supported and kept informed of changes in management. Action was underway to address the concerns raised during the inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection The last rating for the service was good, published 13 November 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. During this review, CQC were made aware of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of medicines and CQC examined those risks.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report. During and following the inspection, the provider took action to mitigate the risks identified.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodview House Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified three breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and good governance.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.