Archived: The New Wycliffe Home

Updated 8 June 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This comprehensive inspection was unannounced and took place on 22 March 2018. It was carried out by an inspection manager, an 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. Our expert by experience had experience of services that provides support for people living with a sensory impairment.

We reviewed information that we held about the service such as notifications, which are events, which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about, and information that had been sent to us by other agencies.

We sought feedback from commissioners who placed people and monitored the service.

During this inspection we spoke with nine people, four relatives, and a visiting healthcare professional. We also spoke with the provider’s director of services, the deputy manager, an assistant manager, the head administrator, an activity co-ordinator, the training officer, a nutritional support worker, a senior support worker, two support workers, the handyman and a cleaner.

We looked at four people’s care records to see if they reflected the care provided, and three staff recruitment records. We looked at other information related to the running of the service including quality assurance audits, staff training information, and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 8 June 2018

The New Wycliffe is a ‘care home’ for older people, some of whom are living with sight loss and/or dementia. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The New Wycliffe accommodates up to 49 people in a two-storey purpose-built residential home in Leicester. The home is on two floors with a lift for access and has a range of lounges, dining areas and gardens. At the time of our inspection there were 48 people using the service.

This inspection took place on the 22 March 2018 and was unannounced. We had previously inspected this home in November 2015 when it was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. 'Responsive', which had been Outstanding, was now Good as we did not find enough evidence to maintain the Outstanding rating for this domain.

This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The staff were caring and kind and people and relatives told us the home had a family atmosphere. Staff engaged with people and shared jokes with them which people enjoyed. Family members said they could visit the home at any time and always found their family members well-cared for and content.

People were safe living at the home and staff knew how to support them to stay safe. All areas of the home were clean, tidy and fresh. Effective systems and checks ensured the premises were safe for people. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Medicines were safely managed and given to people when they needed them.

People’s needs were assessed prior to them moving into the home to ensure that staff were able to meet these. The home specialised in supporting people with sight loss and staff understood people’s sight issues and how these might affect them on a day to day basis. The staff were skilled, knowledgeable and experienced and had the necessary training to support them in their roles.

People and relatives made many positive comments about the food served. The home employed four part-time nutritional support workers who helped to ensure people had a healthy balanced diet. People had regular access to healthcare professionals and staff sought support from them when needed.

People were encouraged to make decisions about their care and day-to-day routines and preferences. Staff demonstrated they worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and there was documentation to support this.

People were encouraged to follow their interests. People and relatives told us about some of the activities they had enjoyed including hosting a travelling zoo, using the home’s cyber café to speak with relatives abroad, and going out on the home’s ‘side by side’ tandem bicycle with staff.

The home had a shop/cafe stocked with drinks, sweets and toiletries. Some people helped in the shop putting sweets in jars, tidying up, and dusting the shelves. The shop/cafe was popular with people and visitors and provided a pleasant space where people could gather together and socialise.

The culture of the home was caring and inclusive with people at the heart of the service provided. People and relatives told us the registered manager and staff were approachable and helpful.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. People and relatives had the opportunity to comment on the quality of the home in surveys and at meetings and changes and improvements were made in response to their suggestions.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.