Archived: Whitegates Retirement Home

Updated 20 October 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 service under the Care Act 2014.’

This inspection took place on the 15 August 2017 and was unannounced. It was carried out by two inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who used this type of service.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we hold about the service including previous reports, complaints, safeguarding concerns and notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We looked at information provided by the local authority and contracts and purchasing (quality monitoring team). We also looked at the provider information return (PIR), which is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what they do well and any improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with 10 people living in the home, two relatives and a visitor. We spoke with eight staff, including care staff, activity staff, the cook and the registered manager. We looked at a number of records; including five medicine administration records, four care plans, the recruitment records for three care staff, complaints, accident/incidents and safeguarding records. We also looked at the provider’s quality assurance audits.

Some people who lived in the home were unable to verbally share with us their experiences of life at the home because of their dementia needs. Therefore we spent a large amount of time during our inspection observing the interaction between staff and people and watched how people were being cared for by staff in communal areas. We also used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We asked the registered manager to send us a copy of their activity programme, staff rotas, minutes of meetings and a number of policies and procedures, including complaints, safeguarding and medicine policies. They sent these to us within a few days of the inspection

Updated 20 October 2017

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection at Whitegates Retirement Home on the 19 and 20 May 2016 and we rated the service as requires improvement. We carried out this inspection on 15 August 2017 to ensure the provider had taken appropriate action and we found that improvements had been made.

Whitegates Retirement Home provides accommodation and support for up to 24 older people. Situated on the outskirts of the village of Westfield in East Sussex the home offers single rooms, two communal areas and a separate dining room. A lift enables people to access all parts of the building and there is a large garden with seating areas that is accessible to people using wheelchairs and walking aids. Some people were independent and needed only need minimal assistance; others needed support with personal care and moving around the home safely. There were 17 people living at the home during the inspection.

The registered manager was present during the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

This inspection took place on the 15 August 2017 and was unannounced.

The provider had a quality assurance and monitoring system in place and a number of audits were used to assess the services provided. Such as audits of medicine records and care plans. However, these audits had not identified the areas where improvement was needed that we found during the inspection. There have been a lot of changes since the last inspection and although these have improved the care and support provided for people living at the home, additional work is needed to embed these into practice and ensure people’s individual needs can be met.

A robust recruitment system was in place to ensure only suitable staff were employed. Staff attended relevant training, they had an understanding of people’s needs and there were enough staff working at the home to provide the support people wanted. Staff had attended safeguarding training; they were clear about how to protect people from abuse and the action they would take if they had any concerns.

The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. The management and staff had attended training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and were aware of current guidance to ensure people were protected.

People said the food was good, choices were offered and staff assisted people if required. A range of group and individual activities were provided, based on people’s preferences, to participate in if they wanted to.

Staff supported people to see health and social care professionals when required. Records were kept of any visits, care plans updated with guidance for staff to follow to ensure any changes in support was provided.

Feedback was sought from people, relatives and staff through ongoing discussions, regular meetings and satisfaction questionnaires.