Willowcroft

Willowcroft is residential care home providing accommodation and personal care. The service is an adapted family style property that can accommodate up to 7 people. At the time of our inspection 6 people were living in the home. CQC only inspect where a regulated activity is being provided. One person was receiving a regulated activity.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

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. One family member told us living at Willowcroft is the best thing that could have happened to their loved one.

One person said, “I am living a life of luxury at Willowcroft.”

Staff provided care that was safe, and risks were managed appropriately. This was because staff were well trained. There was a consistent staff team, who had been safely recruited. Agency staff were not required due to good staff retention.

Staff felt supported and the management team were always available. The registered manager had a good understanding of their responsibilities towards the person they supported and had passion in delivering person-centred care. The registered manager was receptive to how the focus in the care plans could be improved upon to include more about the character of the person.

Medicines were well managed. Systems were in place to monitor quality and learn from accidents and incidents.

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. The report was published 06 February 2018.

Why we inspected

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

Willowcroft is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The care home accommodated up to seven people in an adapted ordinary family style residential property. The care service was developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

The provider’s website stated that people staying at Willowcroft may have mental health needs, a learning disability or an acquired brain injury. There were six people receiving care and support at the home at the time of our visit.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

A registered manager was 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.

Procedures were in place to protect people from harm and staff knew how to use them to keep people safe. There were processes in place to manage risks in relation to the running of the service, prevention of infection and the recruitment of staff. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. People had support to manage their medicines safely.

People continued to have their needs assessed and met. Staff received training and support to ensure they had appropriate skills to carry out their roles well. People had sufficient to eat and drink and had support to receive care across different services to promote their health and wellbeing. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Staff members knew those they supported well and respected their privacy and dignity. People were encouraged to be as independent as they felt able to be. People received support to identify and achieve goals in their lives including educational and personal aspirations. People and their relatives were encouraged to raise any issues. The management team had systems in place to address any concerns or complaints.

People had regular contact with the registered manager. Staff received support and guidance from a management team who they found approachable. People and staff felt able to express their views and felt their opinions mattered. The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of support given and to make changes when needed.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Before people received any care or treatment they were asked to provide their consent to the support they needed and records showed the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. One person who used the service told us, "My keyworker and I meet regularly, we discuss my options and they have their opinion, but it's always me who makes the decision."

The home was suitably maintained and the provider carried out a range of audits to ensure that emergency equipment was safe to use. . Due to people using medications that may cause drowsiness we saw each person had an individual evacuation plan in place so that they would be able to leave the building in the event of an emergency.

Staff received appropriate development and supervision to assist them in their role and told us they felt supported by their line manager. One member of staff we spoke with told us, 'The manager will talk to us about how we feel, ask us for our comments, and they feed back to us their thoughts. In my last supervision we discussed a further qualification.'

During our previous inspection on 04 January 2013 we found the one person's care records were incomplete. During our inspection on 24 July 2013 we saw the provider had made improvements.

One person said, "This is the best place I have been in. Staff are more like friends." Other comments included, "You get help from staff."

We found that people were involved in care planning as much as possible. Some people had legal restrictions placed on what they could do. We saw evidence that people were aware of any restrictions and these had been discussed with them. We noted that people who used the service lacked the opportunity to make written comment and sign their care plans and reviews.

People's existing skills were encouraged as well as learning new self help skills such as using the laundry, shopping and preparing communal meals and interactional skills with staff.

Staff were found to make good judgements regarding adult protection. They were able to recognise abuse and take appropriate action. However, they were not familiar with the local safeguarding procedures.

We saw that staffing levels were maintained consistently and in line with the provider's calculations.

The records were not safely kept in as far as plastic covers holding paper records and personal files were in a poor condition. One care plan was not in place and the identified risks in the assessment information had not been fully actioned.