Whitebriars Care Home

Updated 19 January 2023

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Whitebriars Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Whitebriars Care Home is a care home without 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals 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 annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who used the service and 8 members of staff. Staff included the registered manager, deputy manager, operations manager, the chef, the staff member responsible for maintenance and 3 members of care staff. We looked at four care plans and documents relating to safeguarding and risk. We looked at multiple medication administration records -, 4 staff files and documents relating to auditing and quality assurance. We spoke with 5 relatives and contacted 3 professionals.

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.

Updated 19 January 2023

About the service

Whitebriars care home is a residential care home providing care, support and accommodation for up to 25 people. People living at the home were older people with a range of care and support needs that included Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and health conditions relating to old age. Some people living at the service lived with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people using the service.

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

People lived in a safe environment and were protected from harm. Staff had been trained in safeguarding and knew the steps to take if they suspected abuse or wrongdoing. Risk assessments were in place that covered all aspects of people’s care and support including for example the risk of falls and that of developing pressure sores. People received their medicines safely by trained staff who were subject to regular re-assessments. People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely and there were enough staff on every shift to meet people’s needs. Lessons learned following accidents and incidents and any learning was shared with staff to minimise recurrences. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported /did them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Managers and the staffing team worked well together and the registered manager was well thought of by people, relatives and staff. Auditing processes were in place with any patterns or trends identified and where necessary, interventions were put in place to support people and maintain safe practices. People, relatives and staff had been given opportunities to feedback about the service and the registered manager and the management team listened to and acted on feedback. The registered manager complied with the duty of candour and had a clear vision for developing the service further. Positive working relationships were developed with other health and social care professionals.

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 24 July 2018)

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focussed inspection on 20 December 2022. This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about the service.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained 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 Whitebriars care home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.