Woodlands

Updated 2 December 2023

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Woodlands 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. Woodlands is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This 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 used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met and spoke with all 5 people living at Woodlands. We also spoke with 3 care staff, the deputy manager and registered manager. Following the site visit, we received feedback from 1 person’s relatives and 3 health and social care professionals on the service’s current performance.

We reviewed a range of records, including 2 people’s care records, medication records, staff recruitment records, rotas and policies and procedures.

Updated 2 December 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Based on our review of safe and well led. The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of 'Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture.'

About the service

Woodlands is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 5 people. At the time of the inspection 5 people were using the service.

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

Right Support

Risks were managed and appropriately mitigated by a staff team that were committed to supporting people’s independence.

People received their medicines as prescribed. Where possible people were encouraged to manage their own medicines to maximise their independence.

People were empowered to make meaningful decisions and choices. Staff understood people’s communication preferences and used a range of communication tools appropriately to support people’s decision making.

People were supported to have choice and control in 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.

Right Care

Staff protected people from all forms of abuse and discrimination, and understood how to raise safeguarding concerns should this be necessary.

The service was fully staffed, and people’s individual needs and preferences were recognised and respected. Staff worked with people to identify goals and took pleasure in celebrating people’s achievements.

Professionals were complimentary of the care and support the service provided.

Right Culture

The registered manager had developed a supportive caring culture that valued and celebrated people’s achievements. People were comfortable with their staff who they regularly tricked and joked with.

The registered manger provided effective leadership to the staff team who reported they were well supported. Audits had been completed regularly to monitor performance and identify any areas of possible improvement within the service.

The consistent staff team enjoyed spending time with the people they supported. People’s requests in relation to staff skills had been acted upon by the registered manager and a member of staff able to compete with people’s gaming skills had been recruited.

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 17 November 2017).

Why we inspected

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

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.

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.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.