White Lodge & St Helens

Updated 2 December 2022

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

White Lodge & St Helens is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. White Lodge & St Helens is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, the health and safety officer, the housekeeper, team leaders and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care and support records and four people’s medicine administration records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, staffing rotas, accident and incident records, safeguarding records and quality assurance reports.

Updated 2 December 2022

About the service

White lodge and St Helens is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 55 people aged 65 and over. At the time of the inspection there were 54 people living at the home. The service does not provide nursing care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Staff spoke knowledgably about how to identify and report potential abuse. Staff were recruited safely with the service ensuring all necessary identity checks were completed before staff commenced their employment. The provider was running an ongoing recruitment programme for staff. There were adequate levels of staff available on each shift to ensure people were cared for safely.

Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely. People were supported to take their medicines safely by staff who had received the appropriate levels of training. A programme of medicine competency checks was in the process of being re-introduced.

People and their relatives told us they or their loved one enjoyed living at White Lodge and St Helens. They felt safe and received a good level of care and support. People were relaxed and comfortable with staff who knew them well and supported them in ways they preferred.

There was a clear risk assessment system in place. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were regularly assessed, reviewed and updated. Where appropriate, people and their families were included and involved in their care and support.

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.

There was an effective governance system in place. There were a variety of audits, policies, systems and procedures to monitor the quality and safety of the service. These ensured a culture of continuous improvement and learning took place and highlighted any potential shortfalls.

People, relatives and staff felt the service was well led. Staff spoke positively regarding the registered manager and the management team and felt well supported within their roles.

The service worked closely with a variety of health and social care professionals to ensure people received timely and effective care and support.

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 11 July 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result 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.

The overall rating for the service has remained at good based on the findings of this inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for White Lodge & St Helens 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.