Wickham Hall

Updated 5 May 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

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to ensure the registered manager and service leader were available to support the inspection. The notice period also allowed staff time to ask people using the service if they would be prepared to speak with us and allow access to their flats. Inspection activity started on 19 April and ended on 26 April 2021, by which time we had reviewed all additional information sent following the visit. We visited Wickham Hall on 20 April 2021.

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. 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with five people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager and service leader.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, audits and training data were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records, staffing information and evidence of person-centred care. We also completed telephone interviews with three support workers.

Updated 5 May 2021

About the service

Wickham Hall is an extra care housing scheme for older people, comprising of 35 individual flats in one large building, located approximately a mile from Wigan Town Centre. The building contained large communal areas on the ground floor and an onsite restaurant. People who lived at the service had separate care and tenancy agreements.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 26 people with personal care.

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

People told us they felt safe living at Wickham Hall and were supported by staff who knew them and with whom they had or were developing good working relationships. Enough staff were deployed to meet people’s needs, provide agreed support and keep them safe. Accidents and incidents had been documented, with action taken to prevent a reoccurrence. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to identify and report concerns. People received support to manage their medicines by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent.

Staff received sufficient training and supervision to carry out their roles effectively. Assessments were completed prior to people’s admission, to ensure the service was suitable. 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 files contained detailed information about the people who used the service and how they wished to be supported. People told us they were directly involved in their care and support and deciding what they did each day. People were supported to complete social and recreational activities in line with their wishes, albeit the current COVID-19 pandemic had impacted on what people could safely do at present. People told us they had no complaints or concerns but had been provided with details on what steps to take, should they need to.

The service had a clear management system in place. Due to the registered manager currently being responsible for other services owned by the provider, day to day management of Wickham Hall was the responsibility of the service leader. Staff and people spoke positively about the service leader and the support they provided. Both the service leader and registered manager were reported to be open, honest and approachable. A range of systems and processes were used to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service. Actions had been identified and added to the home’s continuous improvement plan, which was regularly reviewed.

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 25 March 2020) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 28 February 2020 when 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 safe care and treatment and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective, responsive and well-led 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.

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

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.