West Hall

Updated 26 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

Due to the size of the service this inspection was carried out by four inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection:

This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 18 April 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the evidence we had about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern at our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with or met nine people who lived at the home and 11 relatives. We also spoke with ten members of care staff, plus the registered manager. If people were unable to tell us directly about their experience, we observed the care they received and the interactions they had with staff. We received feedback from two social health care professionals which we have included in our report. We looked at nine people’s care records, including their assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We checked training records and how medicines were managed. We also looked at health and safety checks, quality monitoring checks and the results of the provider’s latest satisfaction surveys.

Updated 26 June 2019

About the service: West Hall is a care home for older people, some of whom are living with dementia. The service is registered to accommodate up to 117 people living in three separate lodges. The site also has a main house which accommodates the activity centre, hairdresser and a bistro. At the time of our inspection, 107 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they lived in a service where staff were exceptionally caring and kind. We observed staff displaying a strong, visible person-centred culture enabling people to express their views and making people feel they were really cared for and mattered. Staff were highly motivated to offer care that was kind.

People who were at the end of their life and their families received outstanding end of life care from a staff team who was understanding and had distinctive skills.

People were cared for by staff who had superior skills in being able to recognise people’s needs in relation to their well-being and social happiness. This resulted in people having an enhanced sense of wellbeing and great quality of life. People’s care was planned proactively with them and staff were flexible and responsive to people’s individual care needs.

Staff took a key role in the local community and engaged with services outside of the service. Networks with external agencies was encouraged and met people’s individual wishes to achieve things they had always wanted to do. This practice had been sustained since our last inspection.

People told us they felt safe living at West Hall. People received the medicines they needed in order to maintain good health and any risks that had been identified for them had been responded to.

People said they did not have to wait to be assisted as there were sufficient staff on duty. They told us they enjoyed the food and the choices they had and were supported to live healthy lifestyles as they had access to health care professionals when needed. People lived in an environment that was adapted to suit their needs and was extremely clean.

The registered manager strove to provide an excellent service to people and the vision and values were person-centred to make sure people were at the heart of the service. They had sustained the level of good practice within the service and had continued so support staff and lead by example. This had all helped to ensure people received the best care possible.

Rating at last inspection: We last inspected this service on 30 June 2016 when we rated the service as Outstanding. Our report was published on 15 October 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a routine scheduled inspection based on the rating at our last inspection.

Follow up: Since our inspection, we have been made aware of a number of unwitnessed falls within the service and also a complaint which are currently being investigated by the local authority safeguarding team. West Hall is a large service and one that supports people in positive risk taking and retaining their independence. As such this may result in accidents and incidents and even a service that is rated outstanding may receive complaints. However, from our inspection we feel that the management structure within the service is such that we are assured that full investigations will be carried out and action taken in response. We will continue to monitor this service and will next inspect it in line with our published inspection process and methodology.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk