Westgate House

Updated 29 October 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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors, a specialist pharmacist advisor 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

Westgate House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 who was undergoing the registration process with the Care Quality Commission. This means the provider is 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.

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 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 seven people who used the service and seven relatives. We spoke with 13 members of staff which included the manager, the regional director, the regional support manager, the general manager, the activities coordinator, the maintenance person, two nurses, three senior care staff, and two care staff.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. These included 11 people’s care records and 13 medicines records. We looked at six staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management 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 looked at quality assurance records.

Updated 29 October 2021

About the service

Westgate House is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 67 people, some living with dementia at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 80 people.

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

People and relatives told us they felt the home was safe. Staff understood what action to take if they suspected somebody was being harmed or abused. Staff knew how to report accidents and incidents. People had risk assessments to keep them safe from the risks they may face. These were updated as needed and used to inform reviews of people’s care.

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.

People were supported by enough staff who had been recruited safely. The provider supported people safely with medicines.

The service was clean and odour free and staff followed safe infection control practices. Additional systems and guidance were in place to reduce the risk of infection during the pandemic.

Discussions with the manager and staff showed they respected people’s sexual orientation so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people could feel accepted and welcomed in the service. The provider had a complaints procedure in place and people and relatives knew how to make a complaint.

People had person centred care plans in place. They were actively involved in their care and contributed to the development of care plans and reviews. People had staff support to access activities in the home and the community. People’s end of life wishes was explored and recorded. People’s communication needs were identified. However, we made a recommendation about exploring communication alternatives for people whose first language is not English.

People and staff told us the management of the service were supportive. Staff told us they felt well supported by the manager. The service had quality assurance processes in place. The service worked well with other organisations to improve people’s experiences.

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 requires improvement. (Report published on 28 March 2019).

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 19 February 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report covers our findings in relation to all the key questions which contain those requirements. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings 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.

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.