Woodlands

Updated 5 December 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 carried out by an inspector 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.

Service and service type

This service provides care to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection only looked at people’s personal care service.

Registered Manager

This provider is 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 Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with a person who uses the service, 4 relatives and a friend. We spoke with 4 staff including 2 care team leaders, a support worker and the area manager. We sent a survey to 4 staff and received 1 response.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people’s care records including medicine records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures.

Updated 5 December 2023

About the service

Woodlands is an extra care service. The service provides personal care to older people who live in their own apartments in a modern building. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

The provider’s quality assurance system was not effective and had not led to actions to improve the service or mitigate risks. People's care records did not reflect their current needs or risks to their well-being. Some records, including staff recruitment and training records, had significant gaps which had not been identified or acted upon.

People and relatives said they felt safe and comfortable when staff were supporting them. There were enough staff to cover most visits and agency staff were used as a contingency to cover gaps. Safeguarding processes were in place.

People and relatives described the service as "warm, friendly and welcoming". They had confidence in staff’s abilities and competence.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service upheld this practice.

There had been no manager at the service for several months and the provider was actively trying to recruit one. Staff worked hard to promote a positive, teamworking approach but were concerned about the impact of the lack of management oversight.

People and relatives said there was good communication between the senior staff and people who used the service. External professionals said they found making contact with the service was sometimes difficult.

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 23 July 2018).

Why we inspected

We carried out this inspection due to the length of time since the last inspection.

This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-led. 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 has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodlands on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to managing risk and effective governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of governance. 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.