Gwendoline House

Updated 5 April 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Gwendoline House is a ‘care home’ without nursing care. 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. 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 received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 3 people, 4 staff members, the provider and the manager who was covering the home.

We reviewed a range of records. This included risk assessments, medication records, two staff files in relation to their recruitment, maintenance records and a variety of records relating to the management of the home.

Updated 5 April 2023

The inspection

Gwendoline House is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 16 people. At the time of the inspection, 12 people were living at the home.

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

People told us they felt safe living at the home. The staff had a good understanding of what steps to take to reduce and manage any identified risks to them. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse. There were enough staff employed to meet people's needs. Medicines were administered safely by staff who had been trained to do so. Health and safety systems were robust and included checks of equipment being used. Fire systems were also checked and there was a clear process for emergency evacuation. Incidents and accidents were recorded and reviewed. The home was clean and had good infection prevention and control procedures in place.

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.

The home used a range of systems and processes to monitor the quality and effectiveness provided. Any areas for improvement were recorded with actions put into place. We found any actions had been addressed timely

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 05 February 2019). The rating at this inspection remains good.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding. We inspected two key questions, Safe and Well led.

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 home remains good based on the findings of this inspection.

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.

Follow up

We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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