We carried out a review of the data available to us about Windmill Care Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Windmill Care Centre, you can give feedback on this service.
Windmill Care Centre is a care home which provides accommodation and personal care or nursing care. The service can care for older adults, including people with a living with dementia. The care home accommodates 53 people across three separate floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One of the floors specialises in providing care to people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, 44 people received care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
This inspection found that improvements were made to the safety and quality of care that people received since our last inspection in September 2018.
People received safe care. The management of people’s medicines had improved. Any risks to them were assessed, documented and mitigated to protect against avoidable harm. People were protected against abuse, neglect and discrimination. There were enough staff deployed to ensure people were safe. The premises and equipment were well-maintained, clean and tidy. Accidents and incidents were recorded, people received appropriate support afterwards and the service learnt lessons if things went wrong.
Improvements were made to support staff, ensuring they had the right knowledge, skills and experience. Staff were competently able to provide the support people required. They were provided with frequent training in various topics, which included additional complex skills. There were very good links with community care professionals which ensured people maintained a healthy lifestyle. People received effective support which met their individual needs. A holistic assessment was carried out which included people’s cultural, religious and lifestyle histories. We made recommendations about the staff training in oral hygiene and the publication of food allergens.
People and others said the service was caring. They said staff were kind and able to meet their needs. People had an active role in their care planning and reviews. People’s privacy and dignity was maintained.
Changes to care planning meant they were more detailed and person-centred. The care plans were comprehensive and reviewed regularly with changes as needed. People were encouraged to enjoy themselves and enjoy a broad range of activities. Staff valued people's individual differences and responded in line with their preferences for support. People’s diversity was fully recognised and promoted by the staff; people were supported to follow their faith and culture, and to maintain important family relationships.
The registered manager was knowledgeable, skilled and experienced in their role. There was a good workplace culture. There was a clear focus on continuous improvement and ensuring people could lead their best life possible. The registered manager ensured audits and checks were completed regularly to ensure the safety and quality of people’s care. Improvements were made based on the feedback of people, relatives, staff and others. The quality of the service was further overseen by the provider’s regional management teams.
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.
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 13 November 2018).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
This inspection took place on 18 and 19 September and was unannounced. This was the services first inspection since Windmill Care Centre joined Maria Mallaband Care Group in August 2017. Windmill Care Centre provides care for up to 53 older people including nursing care. At the time of our inspection there were 43 people using the service.
The service was required to have a registered manager to manage the service. At the time of our inspection a registered manager was managing the service.
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.
Windmill Care Centre 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. Windmill Care Centre accommodates 53 people in one adapted building across three separate units, each of which have separate adapted facilities. One of the units specialises in providing care to people living with dementia.
Medicines were not managed effectively at the service. We found some people were without their medicines due to insufficient stock.
People spoke positively about the service and told us they felt safe. Comments included, “Good staff, a lot of changes since the new company took over, but it has settled down now” and “Everyone here will give you a positive response, they treat you like family.”
Staff had an awareness and understanding of abuse and knew what to do to make sure people were protected. Staff were up to date with training in safeguarding and followed local procedures when required. We saw local safeguarding procedures displayed in areas throughout the service.
Risk assessments were in place for people with an identified risk, such as repositioning due to frail skin and fluid monitoring for people at risk of dehydration. Records we viewed had been completed accurately.
The service followed the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We found clear information in relation to people’s applications, reviews and expiry dates for standard Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the polices and systems in the service supported this practice.
Recruitment systems were robust and ensured only the right staff were recruited to support people. Files we saw contained relevant checks before staff were appointed. We observed there were sufficient numbers of staff to support people.
Care plans we viewed were specific to individual needs and were reviewed regularly or as people’s needs changed.
Whilst there were regular quality assurance systems which maintained an oversight of the quality of the service people received. Audits had failed to identify issues with staff training and competency checks being carried out.
People’s nutritional needs were met and appropriate measures were in place where people were at risk of malnutrition. There was good partnership working with community specialists to monitor people’s well-being.
We found clinical staff had not received specific training by the provider and had not had competency checks carried out to ensure they were safe to carry out clinical tasks.
The service provided a programme of activities and social events for people to take part in.
The service needed refurbishment and decoration at the time of our inspection. We saw areas of damaged ceiling tiles and poor-quality living areas. However, we were told refurbishment was soon to take place.
During this inspection we found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.