Werneth Lodge Care Home

Updated 18 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures.

This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 4 February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 18 February 2022

Werneth Lodge is a residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 42 older people, including some people who live with dementia. At the time of our inspection the home accommodated 37 people.

Werneth Lodge is a former red brick mill owner’s house close to the main Manchester to Oldham Road. The main building runs at a tangent to the road, accessed via a side street, and an extension built on the western side of the main building enclosed a car park and garden area. On the opposite side of the building stands part of the original building – the coach house which has been converted to provide a further number of bedrooms and a lounge area. This part of the building is connected to the main building through a short hallway which passes the main entrance. Some of the rooms in this part of the building looked out over Manchester Road.

This inspection took place on the 20 April 2018 and was unannounced. This was a focused inspection carried out by two adult social care inspectors. The inspection had been brought forward prompted by concerns relating to a specific incident. This incident is subject to an investigation and as a result this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.

When we last inspected Werneth Lodge in December 2017 we rated the service as ‘good’ and did not find any breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. We did however make recommendations about the security of the building, the management of risk, and care planning. At this inspection the service remained ‘good’.

This focused inspection was carried out to assess any current risks to people using the service. We therefore only looked at two domains where the key lines of enquiry are about risk and leadership of the service. No other concerns had been identified through our ongoing monitoring. Therefore the other three domains, namely, effective, caring or responsive were not assess as part of this targeted inspection process. A full comprehensive inspection will be carried out at a later date.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

People told us they felt safe at the service. The registered manager knew how to protect people from harm and told us what they would do if they had any safeguarding concerns. Risks to people had been assessed and plans put in place to keep risks to a minimum. Lessons were also learnt from complaints, safeguarding and incidents to help prevent reoccurrence in the future.

We toured the building and found the service had improved security by fitting new key pads and updating the codes that allowed people to enter and leave the building. The service had also ordered a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system to capture the entry and exit of people, staff and visitors to the home. The CCTV has been fitted since the inspection.

We saw the home had detailed and up to date risk assessments to promote the safety and well-being of people who used the service

Detailed assessments of people's needs were completed before they moved into the service. This was done to ensure the service could meet the person's needs and that they would be happy living at Werneth Lodge. The assessment process included visits to the person's home or hospital.

People's initial care plans were based on information gathered during the assessment process and background information from commissioners and relatives.

We saw that the quality of care plans gave staff sufficient information to look after people accommodated at the care home and they were reviewed monthly.