Archived: The Willows

Updated 17 August 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider 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.

We inspected the service on 3 July 2017 as an unannounced comprehensive inspection. The inspection was undertaken two inspectors 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.

Before our inspection visit, we asked the provider to send to us a Provider Information Return (PIR). This document allows the provider to give us key information about the service, what it does well and what improvements they plan to make. We were able to review the information as part of our evidence when conducting our inspection. We found the information contained in the PIR reflected the service.

We also reviewed the information we held about the service. This included information received from the local authority commissioners and the statutory notifications the registered manager had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. Commissioners are people who contract services, and monitor the care and support the service provides when they are paid for by the local authority.

During the inspection, we spoke with seven people who lived at the home, two relatives and two visitors. We spoke with the registered manager and seven care staff. We looked at a range of records relating to people's care including three care files, daily records and supplementary charts such as weight charts. This was to assess whether people received care and support in accordance with their needs. We looked at two staff recruitment files to check safe procedures had been followed. We looked at quality monitoring information such as records of checks the registered manager and the provider carried out to make sure people received a quality service.

Many of the people living at The Willows were not able to tell us, in detail, about how they were cared for because of their complex needs. We therefore spent time observing how people were cared for. We used the short observational framework tool (SOFI) to help us assess if people’s needs were appropriately met and they experienced good standards of care. SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand people’s experiences.

Updated 17 August 2017

The Willows is a care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 32 older people who may have dementia. We inspected The Willows on 3 July 2017 as an unannounced inspection.

A requirement of the service's registration is that they have 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager working at the service.

At the last inspection the service was rated as ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of abuse. The registered manager checked the suitability of staff before they started working at the home. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs.

Risks associated with people’s care were identified and confirmed in risk assessments which guided staff on how to manage them to keep people safe.

Medicines were stored safely and there was an electronic medicine system to help ensure people received their medicines as prescribed. However, it was sometimes not clear creams prescribed for people were applied to the frequency required.

Staff completed ongoing training to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to care for people effectively. The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. People had a choice of meals and drinks, and their nutritional needs were assessed to ensure people were supported to eat and drink if required. People had access to healthcare services when their health needs changed.

People had care plans detailing their needs. It was not always clear that instructions in care plans were followed or that people preferences were met consistently.

Staff knew people well and most of the time involved them in decisions about their care. People were encouraged to maintain relationships with people that were important to them. Some people were supported with their interests and people had access to social activities on a regular basis. Staff understood and maintained people’s privacy and dignity.

People and relatives felt that concerns they had raised had been dealt with effectively. They spoke positively of staff and the management of the home. The provider had a range of quality monitoring systems in place to ensure people experienced the quality of care and services they would expect.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.