4 July 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Eothen Residential Homes Wallsend is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 64 people. The service provides support to older people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 62 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Feedback about the service from staff, people and those close to them was consistent and
exceptionally positive. One person told us “It’s great here, people are very friendly, and the staff are nice. If you ask them for something, they will always help. It’s a home away from home.” One relative told us “This home is excellent, I have no issues whatsoever, I have been in many care homes for my line of work and this one is excellent. They have an incredibly sensitive manager who has supported me and my family throughout. I wish we had more home likes this one.”
Risks to people were identified and systems were in place to reduce them, including falls, skin integrity, eating and drinking, and accessible means for people to go outdoors. Health and safety checks were regularly conducted. Accidents and incidents were recorded, and actions were taken to mitigate the risk of reoccurrence. Lessons were learned and shared across the staff teams as required, with reflective practice sessions being available so staff could learn what to do better next time.
Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and knew how to do this. The service had enough safely recruited staff who were appropriately skilled and knew people's needs to help keep them safe.
Assessments were person centred and care was very responsive to people's needs. There was an established and motivated staff team highly trained to carry out their roles effectively. The service and home environment was accessible and had been adapted to meet people's needs.
Distinctive leadership at location and provider level had achieved a service that was effective and responsive. The service was innovative and dedicated to ensuring continuous quality improvement to make a real difference for people. The provider worked alongside local universities who undertook research projects around care and wellbeing. For example, the service had been part of a research project about the benefits on people if staff didn’t wear uniforms. One relative told us how this made a difference, “I like that they don’t wear uniforms, I feel it puts everyone at ease.”
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.
The building was well-maintained, spacious and had plenty of room for activities. Throughout the home there were no restrictions, all residents could access all floors, gardens and communal areas as they wished. The gardens were enclosed and designed so people looped around the home and could easily find their way back in. This was well received by people and their relatives. One relative told us, “Security is excellent, nothing is locked which doesn’t restrict people, but all external doors are alarmed, if someone goes outside, they know where people are and can still keep an eye of them.”
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 October 2017).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service is now outstanding based on the findings of this inspection.
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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Eothen Residential Homes Wallsend 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.