8 November 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Willow Tree Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 47 people. The service provides support to older people and those living with dementia across 2 floors. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service.
People’s experience of the service and what we found:
People were not always protected from the risk of infection as staff were not consistently following safe infection prevention and control practices. Overall, the provider assessed risks to ensure people were safe and staff took action to mitigate identified risks. However, we identified some areas of risk had not been assessed and some management plans required greater detail. The provider’s system did not always effectively monitor the quality of care provided to drive improvements.
People were safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm. There were enough staff to provide safe care, but some staff told us they were rushed and wanted more time to spend with people beyond providing physical care. The provider operated safe recruitment processes. People were supported to receive their medicines safely. People were able to receive visitors without restrictions in line with best practice guidance. The provider learned lessons when things had gone wrong.
There was a positive and open culture which helped achieve good outcomes for people. We received positive feedback from staff, people and their relatives about management and how the care provided had a positive impact on people’s health. The provider understood their responsibilities under the duty of candour. When there were changes in people’s health, they were referred to external health professionals to improve their outcomes.
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. However, we identified a decision regarding 1 person’s care that needed to be reviewed to ensure this was in their best interests and the least restrictive option. The provider confirmed this decision and the care would be reviewed to ensure the principles of the Mental Capacity Act were followed.
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 3 March 2022).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing, infection control, pressure care and the timely management of continence care. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
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 Willow Tree Nursing Home 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.