Whitegates & The Cottage

Updated 6 August 2021

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.

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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Whitegates and the Cottage is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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

This inspection was unannounced. However, having consideration of the coronavirus pandemic, we gave the registered manager notice of our arrival from outside the premises. This was to ensure safe systems were in place to protect everyone.

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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior support worker and two care workers. We reviewed a range or records. This included one person’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We received feedback from six relatives and 16 members of staff to obtain their feedback about leadership and the quality of care provided. We spoke to the registered manager to obtain additional information in relation to quality assurance, staff support and risk management.

Updated 6 August 2021

About the service

Whitegates and the Cottage comprises three adjoined houses and a separate cottage providing accommodation and support for up to 21 people who have a learning disability, some of whom also have a physical disability. Whitegates and the Cottage is in the village of Liss in Hampshire

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The culture in the home was not risk adverse. People were supported to take positive risks and the service was passionate about promoting people’s independence.

The provider's vision and values focused on person-centeredness, being passionate about making a difference to people's lives and ensuring positive outcomes for people. Care was person-centred and promoted people’s choice, independence, dignity and privacy. We observed that staff understood and cared for people in a manner that was in keeping with these principles of right support, right care and right culture.

There were appropriate policies and systems in place to protect people from abuse and there were robust processes in place for investigating any safeguarding incidents that had occurred. Staff consistently told us they were confident that concerns would be responded to appropriately. We observed staff were appropriately deployed during the inspection and relatives and staff confirmed there was sufficient staffing in place. Medicines were administered safely by staff who knew people well. Systems were in place to ensure people's medicines were managed safely.

We were assured that the provider was preventing visitors from catching and spreading infections and we were assured that the provider was making sure infection outbreaks can be effectively prevented or managed. The provider had utilised different communication methods to support people to maintain contact with their relatives and friends throughout the pandemic.

Relatives and staff were positive about the service and the management team. Staff had access to policies and procedures which encouraged an open and transparent approach. The COVID-19 pandemic had placed additional pressures on the service, and we saw, and were told, about how the service had adapted to support people to be safe. People’s emotional wellbeing had been a priority for the provider and people had been supported in a person-centred way to manage the impact of the pandemic. The provider had quality assurance procedures to help drive ongoing improvements within the service and had developed close links with external agencies to ensure best outcomes for people.

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 this service was good (published 17 September 2018).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about safeguarding. We made a decision A to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Whitegates and the Cottage on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.