Archived: Willow Brook Care Home

Updated 1 June 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the registered manager 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 unannounced inspection took place on 

26 March 2015 and was unannounced. It was undertaken by three inspectors.

Before and after our inspection we looked at all the information we held about the home. This included information from notifications. Notifications are events that the provider is required by law to inform us of. We also looked at the provider information return (PIR). This is a form in which we ask the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements that they plan to make. We also made contact with NHS continuing health care commissioners and a local authority contract monitoring officer.

We observed how the staff interacted with people and how they were supported during their lunch. We spoke with 11 people who used the service, 8 staff including, six care workers, one house keeper, the activities co-ordinator and four visiting family members.

We also looked at five people’s care records, staff training and recruitment records, and records relating to the management of the service including audits and policies.

Updated 1 June 2015

Willow Brook Care Home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 49 older people. There were 37 people living at the home at the time of our inspection.

This unannounced inspection took place on 26 March 2015. At our previous inspection on 12 June 2014 we found the provider was not meeting all the regulations that we looked at. We found concerns in relation to, records, infection control, staffing, care and welfare of people, quality assurance, respecting and involving people and consent to care and treatment. The provider sent us an action plan detailing how and when they would make the necessary improvements and we found during this inspection that the improvements had been made.

At the time of this inspection the home had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that staff treated people in a way that they liked and that there were sufficient numbers of staff to safely meet people’s needs. People received care which had maintained their health and well-being. Relatives were very happy with the care provided.

There were robust infection control procedures in place and staff were found to be following these.

Medicines were stored correctly and records showed that people had received their medication as prescribed. Staff had received appropriate training for their role in medicine management.

Staff supported each person according to their needs. This included people at risk of malnutrition or dehydration who were being supported to receive sufficient quantities to eat and drink.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. They knocked on people’s bedroom doors and waited for a response before entering. People told us that staff ensured doors were shut when they were assisting them with their personal care.

People’s needs were clearly recorded in their plans of care so that staff had the information they needed to provide care in a consistent way. Care plans were regularly reviewed to ensure they accurately reflected people’s current needs.

People confirmed they were offered a variety of hobbies and interests to take part in and people were able to change their minds if they did not wish to take part in these

Effective quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the service and people’s views were sought and used to improve it. The registered manager had introduced changes to support staff with additional meetings to discuss care and support to ensure that people were receiving a good quality of care and support.