Willows Care Home

Updated 22 January 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector, a specialist advisor for nursing care and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. For this inspection, the Expert by Experience made telephone calls to relatives only.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection took place on 21 December 2020 and was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 21 December and ended on 23 December. We visited the premises on 21 December 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four care staff, three nursing staff, the clinical manager, three activity coordinators, an administration manager and the registered manager.

We reviewed eight people’s care records and medicine records. We looked at four staff recruitment files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, surveys, internal reports, policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We spoke with 10 relatives by telephone for their feedback about the home and continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We also contacted professionals for their feedback about the service.

Updated 22 January 2021

About the service

Willows Care Home is a residential care home providing nursing and personal care to people, some of whom may have dementia. The home can support up to 72 people and at the time of the inspection, 51 people were living in the home. It is an adapted building with three floors, each with separate facilities, including en-suite bathrooms.

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

We found the service continued to be safe and people were protected from the risk of avoidable harm and abuse. Medicines were managed safely and there were robust procedures in place for the administration, recording and storing of all medicines. Audits identified medicine errors and action was taken to investigate them and make improvements.

There were appropriate numbers of staff and they were recruited safely. The provider ensured infection control procedures were in place and there was guidance for people, staff and visitors during the Covid-19 pandemic to keep them safe. Risks to people were identified and managed. The premises, installations and equipment were serviced and maintained to ensure the home environment was safe.

The registered manager carried out audits and inspections to check correct procedures were being followed by staff. The provider was meeting regulatory requirements and notifications of incidents were submitted to us. People and relatives told us the service was well managed. People and relatives were given opportunities to provide feedback about the quality of the service. The provider had identified where improvements were needed in the home and had action plans in place to address them.

Staff were kind and compassionate towards people in the home. There was a positive and open culture and discussions were held with people and relatives to obtain their feedback. Team meetings with staff were held with the management team to discuss important topics and go through any issues. Staff felt able to voice their concerns to the management team. Staff worked well with health professionals and other agencies to ensure people’s health and wellbeing were maintained.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Good (published 10 May 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of the service, infection control procedures, medicine management, staffing levels and the culture of the home, which could put people at risk of unsafe care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were received in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.