16 November 2022
During an inspection looking at part of 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.