Archived: Winston House

Updated 6 February 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the home under the Care Act 2014.

This unannounced inspection took place on 18 November 2014 and was carried out by one inspector 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

Before the inspection we looked at all of the information that we held about the home. This included information from notifications received by us. Notifications are information about important events that the provider must tell us about by law. We also reviewed the provider information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements that they plan to make. We also spoke with a psychiatrist, social care manager, two community psychiatric nurses (CPNs) and a local authority commissioner.

During the inspection we spoke with10 people who lived at Winston House, a clinical psychologist and two CPNs who were visiting people in the home. We also spoke with five members of care staff, the deputy manager, one administrator and the housekeeper. We looked at five people’s care records and at records in relation to the management of the home such as audits, policies and staff records. We observed people taking part in their individual hobbies and interests and also saw how they were supported by staff.

Updated 6 February 2015

Winston House is a registered care home which provides accommodation, non-nursing care for up to 27 people who have mental health support needs. All bedrooms are for single occupancy and there are separate toilet and shower facilities. There are communal areas, including dining rooms and lounges, for people and their guests to use. Winston House is located in a residential area close to the city centre of Cambridge.

This inspection was undertaken on 18 November 2014 and was unannounced. The previous inspection was undertaken on 01 August 2013 and we found the provider was meeting the regulations.

A registered manager was in post at the time of this inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the home. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the home is run.

Winston House provided people with safe care and protected them from the risk of harm. People’s medication was managed and administered in a safe way and people were supported to take their medication as prescribed. People’s individual health and safety risks were assessed and these were well-managed by care staff Satisfactory recruitment checks were completed so that only suitable staff were employed at the home.

People’ were involved in the planning of their care and care was provided in accordance with their preferences and wishes. . Staff had received training so that they were able to safely support people with their mental health care needs. People said they were supported by staff with healthy living and received support to maintain their dietary and nutritional needs. People were supported to access a range of health and social care services to monitor their mental health and physical care needs.

There were friendly, respectful and supportive relationships in place between staff and people living in the home. People were treated with respect and they and their relatives were actively involved in the review of their care plans.

People’s rights in making decisions and suggestions in relation to their support and care were valued and acted upon by staff. Individual social hobbies and interests were provided to maintain and promote people’s sense of wellbeing.

The CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. We found that people’s rights were being protected. There were no DoLS applications in progress at the time of this inspection.

Complaints and concerns made to the registered manager and staff were acted upon to satisfactorily meet the person’s needs. There was regular contact with health care professionals and members of the local mental health teams which ensured that people’s needs were discussed, monitored and reviewed.

Staff were enthusiastic about their work and felt supported and managed so that they could effectively provide people with support. There were regular meetings in place where people, staff and managers were able to discuss issues and developments in a proactive manner. Quality audits and monitoring procedures were in place and there were effective actions to address any improvements that were needed.