18 October 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Woodlands is an extra care service. The service provides personal care to older people who live in their own apartments in a modern building. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider’s quality assurance system was not effective and had not led to actions to improve the service or mitigate risks. People's care records did not reflect their current needs or risks to their well-being. Some records, including staff recruitment and training records, had significant gaps which had not been identified or acted upon.
People and relatives said they felt safe and comfortable when staff were supporting them. There were enough staff to cover most visits and agency staff were used as a contingency to cover gaps. Safeguarding processes were in place.
People and relatives described the service as "warm, friendly and welcoming". They had confidence in staff’s abilities and competence.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service upheld this practice.
There had been no manager at the service for several months and the provider was actively trying to recruit one. Staff worked hard to promote a positive, teamworking approach but were concerned about the impact of the lack of management oversight.
People and relatives said there was good communication between the senior staff and people who used the service. External professionals said they found making contact with the service was sometimes difficult.
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 23 July 2018).
Why we inspected
We carried out this inspection due to the length of time since the last inspection.
This report only covers our findings in relation to the 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 service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodlands on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to managing risk and effective governance at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of governance. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.