Westbourne House Nursing Home

Updated 25 May 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.

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed. We were seeking assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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

Westbourne House Nursing Home is a ‘care home’ with nursing care. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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 all this information to plan our inspection.

We also reviewed feedback obtained from 10 people and their families which was obtained as part of the DMA we completed.

During the inspection

We spent time observing people’s care and interaction with staff in the lounges and dining room areas to help us understand the experience of people living at the home. We asked 14 people who used the service and one visiting relative about their experience of the care provided.

We spoke with 10 staff including the registered manager, registered provider, registered nurses, care staff, and members of the maintenance, administrative, domestic, and catering staff teams. We also spoke with three health professionals who were part of the NHS team supporting people receiving intermediate care and rehabilitation at Westbourne House.

We saw the day to day care records, risk assessments and care plans for three people and multiple medicines records. We looked at personnel and recruitment records for three staff and a range of records in relation to the management of the service and quality monitoring.

Updated 25 May 2022

About the service

Westbourne House Nursing Home is a care home which provides personal and nursing care for up to 71 people with a range of medical and mental health needs. At the time of the inspection there were 47 people living at the home. The home also provides intermediate care for people who are admitted to the service from the community or from local hospitals. Intermediate care is undertaken via a National Health Service contract to help ease the pressures on the acute health care services in the area. People receiving intermediate care were receiving rehabilitation to support them to return home or to an alternative care setting. At the time of this inspection the service was caring for 30 people who were using the service on a temporary basis; some of whom only used the service for a very short period after being discharged from hospital.

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

People were very happy with the care they received, and they told us they felt safe when receiving care from the service. The home had a process in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding and knew what action to take if they suspected abuse.

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.

Risks associated with people's care had been identified and assessments were in place to minimise risks occurring. The provider had a robust recruitment system in place to ensure appropriate staff were employed.

The registered manager and provider could evidence maintenance checks had been carried out to ensure the building was meeting health and safety requirements. Accidents and incidents were analysed to ensure trends and patterns were identified to minimise future incidents. People received their medicine as prescribed.

The premises were clean and there was good infection control practice in place.

The provider had a quality assurance system in place and ensured audits were carried out frequently to identify and actions and resolve them.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement and there were two breaches of regulations (report published 26 June 2019). The provider completed an action plan after that inspection to show what they would do, and by when, to improve. The service was inspected but not rated at our inspection in October 2020 (published 13 November 2020) but it had improved and met the breaches identified in 2019.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed. We were seeking assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspections to calculate the overall rating.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.