Wishingwell Residential Care Home

Updated 22 June 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by an inspector.

Service and service type

Wishingwell Residential Care Home 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. Wishingwell Residential Care Home 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 an individual, so they are not 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 CQC to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how services are run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

The provider did not complete the required Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. Please see the Well-Led section of the full inspection report for further details.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service and 3 people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from 1 health and social care professionals and spoke with 4 members of staff including the provider and 3 carers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and 4 people’s medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. A variety of other records relating to the management of the service were also reviewed.

Updated 22 June 2023

About the service

Wishingwell Residential Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 4 older people who may be living with dementia. Accommodation is provided in an adapted house over 2 floors. At the time of our inspection there were 4 people using the service.

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

People had a very positive experience of using the service and consistently praised the care and support they received. However, there were wider risks and issues with how the service was managed which put them at increased risk of harm. Staff had not been safely recruited and they had not always completed appropriate and relevant training. Risks had not been thoroughly assessed and managed. This included risks in relation to fire safety, people’s mobility and use of the stairs, and the safe management and administration of medicines. The provider had not completed audits or checks so issues that put people at risk of harm had not been identified and addressed.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

We made a recommendation around monitoring people’s weight to ensure any issues around malnutrition could be identified and addressed in a timely way.

Despite these concerns people felt safe and well cared for. People praised how staff supported them, and relatives felt there was excellent communication, and that they were involved in all aspects of people’s care.

The home environment was clean and welcoming. Staff were friendly, kind and respectful.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 9 October 2018).

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 safe, effective and well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wishingwell Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We identified breaches in relation to the safety of the care, the recruitment of staff, consent and the provider’s oversight and governance arrangements at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We requested an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.