Waterloo Care Home

Updated 10 September 2022

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 undertaken by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Waterloo 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. Waterloo 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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 received about the service since the last inspection. 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 five people and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, the operational manager, the deputy manager, the activities coordinator, senior carers and care workers.

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. This included six people's care and support records and six people’s medicine administration records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, staffing rotas, accident and incident records, safeguarding records and quality assurance reports

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at policies and procedures.

Updated 10 September 2022

About the service

Waterloo Care Home is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to a maximum of 36 people aged 65 and above. Accommodation is provided in one building across two floors. Waterloo Care Home provides care to some people living with dementia. The home does not provide nursing care. At the time of our inspection there were 35 people using the service.

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

Improvements have been made and the home was well-led. People and relatives said the registered manager was visible and approachable. The registered manager had a robust governance and auditing system in place. Audits were up to date and identified any lessons learnt following incidents and accidents so action could be taken to keep people safe.

People told us they were safe at Waterloo Care Home and risks were managed well. A person told us, “I feel safe here. I have a known risk and they [staff] are taking every precaution.” Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely. Where appropriate, people had risk assessments to administer their own medication.

Care plans and risk assessments were person centred. Relatives told us staff knew their loved ones well. Staff supported people in a kind and compassionate way, considering their dignity and respect.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively of the culture within the home. One person told us, “Every day is a new surprise, [I am] really happy here. I feel the home is well managed, all the staff multi-task.” Staff and relatives described the home as a “family”. One staff member told us, “The home is a happy environment, one team striving for good care for the residents.”

The home was following up to date government guidance relating to COVID-19 for care homes. Cleaning and infection control procedures followed the relevant COVID-19 guidance to help protect people, visitors and staff from the risk of infection.

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 (published 25 July 2019).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Waterloo 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.