Background to this inspection
Updated
8 April 2020
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.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
The White Lodge 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.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced on the first day.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with five people who used the service and ten relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, unit leads, support workers and domiciliary staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care and support records and medicines records. We looked at five staff personnel files in relation to recruitment and supervision. A variety of records relating to the managements of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We contacted three professionals who regularly visit the service.
Updated
8 April 2020
About the service
The White Lodge is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 67 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.
The White Lodge accommodates up to 80 people across three separate floors, known as communities, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One community specialises in providing care to people living with dementia.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us they were safe. Staff knew and understood their responsibilities for safeguarding people against potential risk or harm. They were able to tell us how they would report concerns relating to people, or concerns about the service.
People’s medicines were administered, stored and managed safely. There were appropriate systems in place to check and monitor medicines closely, regular audits took place. The pharmacy had undertaken their own audit and the home GP undertook regular reviews of people’s prescribed medicines.
Staff were recruited safely. People were supported by staff who had access to training to fully equip them with the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Staff were well supported through one to one supervision, appraisal, induction and a leadership ‘open door’ policy.
People and their relatives told us the staff were caring and they were well looked after. We observed and heard many kind and compassionate interactions between staff and the people they were supporting. Staff were gentle and patient and treated people with dignity and respect.
Staff sought people’s consent prior to undertaking any support or assistance. Staff had knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People were offered choices of what to do, where to go, what they would like and were encouraged to do things for themselves where able.
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.
Care plans were person centred and included people’s likes dislikes and tasks they were able to undertake independently. Care plans were reviewed regularly. People had access to community and specialist health and social services such as the home GP, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.
People had access to plenty of pass-times, interests and activities. These included a social café, outside events such as the Summer fete, games and clubs. There were extensive accessible outside grounds with wildlife, where people could sit or walk around the perimeter.
The White Lodge had a registered manager who had made significant improvements to the running of the service and the quality of people’s lives. An effective leadership team meant people, their relatives and staff were fully supported and were happy with the standards of care.
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 (published 22 January 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
We undertook a focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements (published 07 June 2019). At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.