Wisden Court

Wisden Court is a purpose-built residential care home providing personal care to 54 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 54 people.

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

People were mainly happy with the care and support they received. Staff were kind, friendly and attentive to people’s needs. People gave mixed views about the number of staff to meet their needs and about if they could make choices relating to timing of care. Six out of the 12 people were spoke with told us they needed to wait for support at times. Staff felt that there were enough of them to meet people’s needs in a person-centred way and would be happy for a relative of theirs to live there. Staff were trained and felt supported.

People felt safe and staff were aware of how to promote people’s safety in most cases. However, we observed one person who was at risk due to staff not adhering to guidance in the person’s plan and some less positive moving and handling observations. Regular checks were in place from the Care Team Leaders to help ensure staff worked in accordance with training and health and safety guidance was adhered to. There were governance systems in place but these were not always used effectively as systems had not identified the issues we found as part of this inspection.

The environment was decorated festively for the season and people told us they liked it. There was plenty of communal space for people to enjoy. People who were participating enjoyed the activities that were provided. There was a ‘Tools down’ and ‘Forget me not’ scheme in place to help prevent social isolation.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. However, the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. This was because the management team told us that the provider had advised them that deprivation of liberty safeguards applied to everyone living in the home, not just those who lacked capacity. While we found that this had not impacted on people’s rights or freedom, but the process needed to be amended to adhere to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. Staff knew people well and worked in a way that promoted people’s preferences and wishes.

People were involved in planning their care when they moved into the home. However people did not always feel that they were involved throughout their stay. People had end of life care plans and there was a ‘Yellow basket’ scheme which invited people and relatives to add items of comfort for people, which were used when people were nearing the end of their lives. Complaints were responded to appropriately. Feedback was sought through meetings and surveys.

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

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 4 January 2019). At this inspection the service has remained the same.

The provider was required to send us an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. The registered manager had completed the action plan but this had not been sent to us to review.

At this inspection enough improvement had not been made and the provider was still in breach of regulation.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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

Wisden Court provides accommodation for up to 54 older people, this included people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 48 people living there.

The service had a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People and their relatives were mostly positive about the management team and how the home was run. There were systems in place to help identify issues and address them. However these were not always effective.

People told us that they felt safe and staff knew how to report any concerns. Medicines management needed to be improved to reduce the risk of any medicine errors. Staffing at peak times needed to be reviewed to ensure the deployment of staff helped reduce people waiting. Individual risks were assessed but the whole process needed to be recorded in a more robust way. Infection control was promoted.

People and their relatives were mostly happy with the care they received and people’s care plans were personalised. However, there were areas in regards to personalised care and recording in care plans that needed to be improved. Complaints were investigated and responded to. However, management and staff response to these needed to be further developed

Staff were recruited safely and received training and supervision. Staff knew what was expected with them and the service worked with other agencies to help develop systems in the home. The staff worked in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act.

People enjoyed their meals and maintain a healthy diet and people had access to health professionals. The building was designed in a way that people could move around as they wished and bedrooms were personalised.

People told us that staff were kind and they felt cared for. People were involved in planning their care. Confidentiality was promoted and privacy and dignity was respected and activities planning took into account what people enjoyed.

Wisden Court is registered to provide accommodation for up to 50 older people who require personal care and may also be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 46 people living there.

The service had a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe and staff knew how to promote people’s safety. Their individual risks had been assessed and accidents were monitored. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and they had been recruited robustly. We also found that people’s medicines were managed safely.

People were supported by staff who were trained and felt supported. We found that people were asked for their consent and the principles of the Mental Capacity Act were adhered to.

People received support with eating and drinking. Assessments were carried out and where needed referrals were made to health professionals. We found that there was regular access to health and social care professionals.

People were treated with dignity and respect and were involved in planning their care. People had an advocate available if needed to assist them in being involved in their care. Confidentiality was respected.

People received care that met their needs and their care plans gave staff guidance about how to support people safely. People’s complaints were responded to and they felt listened to.

Activities were provided, however, care staff needed further development to support these on the units. There were more outings being arranged at the request of people living at the home.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Staff were positive about the registered manager and people felt the service was well run.

Care plans we looked at showed that people's needs and preferences had been thoroughly assessed, documented and reviewed. A relative of a person who lived at the home said, 'I have been extremely impressed with the levels of care my [relative] receives. I cannot fault Wisden Court.'

We saw that people were provided with a healthy balanced diet and given appropriate levels of support where necessary to help them eat and drink. One person told us, 'I really like the food here, it's very tasty.'

Records showed that suitable arrangements had been put in place to ensure staff had been appropriately supported to perform their roles. One member of staff told us, 'I feel generally well supported. We have regular staff meetings and I definitely have a voice here.'

The provider had put systems in place to regularly assess and monitor risks and the quality of services provided at the home.

The provider had procedures in place to deal with complaints.