Westvale House

Updated 1 February 2024

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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspectors, a nurse specialist 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

Westvale House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Westvale House is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 14 November and ended on 30 November 2023.

What we did before the inspection

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 sought feedback from the Local Authority and reviewed the information held by CQC. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke to 10 people who used the service, 6 family members and 10 staff members to gain their views and experience of the service. We observed interactions between staff and people living at the service. We looked at the health safety records within the service and looked at the environment. We reviewed 5 care records, multiply medication administrations records, and 3 staff personnel files in relation to recruitment. We also viewed various records, policies, and procedures in relation to the governance of the service and management.

Updated 1 February 2024

Westvale House is a care home registered to provide accommodation along with personal and nursing care for up to 61 people, in one purpose-built building. At the time of our inspection 36 people were living at the home.

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

Governance processes were not always effective in the monitoring of the service. Auditing tools were in place however, they had failed to identify some of the concerns we found during this inspection.

There were systems in place to record and analyse incidents. However, they were not always effectively investigated.

A safeguarding policy was in place and staff we spoke with understood their role within the safeguarding process and had received adequate training. People told us they felt safe.

Good practice regarding the safe administration of medicine was not always being followed. The oversight of medicine was not robust enough to ensure people were safely given their medicines.

The deployment of staff within the home was not always appropriate, we observed people being left for long periods of time without their assessed level of support.

The provider has recently recruited new members of staff and there has been a change in roles for some existing staff members, this appears to be having a positive impact on the home. Staff and people living at the service commented management were being supportive and things improving.

The management sought people’s feedback through meetings to gain a better understanding of what people wanted.

We observed positive interactions between staff and people who lived at the service. Staff knew the people they supported well.

The registered manager was receptive to feedback during the inspection and took some immediate steps to address some of the concerns raised.

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 13 December 2018). The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement based on the findings of this inspection. We have found evidence the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Why we inspected

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to the safe administration of medication, the risks of the health and safety of the people living at this service and good governance. We made recommendations in relation to the deployment of staff.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.