21 April 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Woodlands is a care home providing personal care for up to 20 older people. At the time of the inspection there were nine people living in the home. The service is an adapted building with a lift.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
There were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs. Staff were kind and caring and people said they liked the home. Relatives spoke positively about the staff team and how caring they were.
People received their medicines safely as prescribed. There were suitable systems and processes in place to manage medicines safely. There were risk assessments in place which detailed risks to people's safety and guided staff on how to keep people safe.
There were suitable processes in place to prevent and control infection at the service, through regular COVID-19 testing, cleaning and safe visiting precautions. Safeguarding processes were in place to help safeguard people from abuse. Staff knew how to respond in emergency situations such as fire or ill health.
A new manager had been appointed since the last inspection and they had made many changes in the home which improved the quality of care provided. Staff and relatives of people living in the home spoke highly of the new manager and improvements they had made.
The provider had refurbished the home since the last inspection. The refurbishment had made the environment safer, more homely and more dementia friendly.
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 manager and provider engaged well with health and care professionals who told us they acted on their advice.
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 inadequate (published 22 January 2021 and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of most of those regulations.
At this inspection the rating has improved to requires improvement.
This service has been in Special Measures since October 2020. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 23 October 2020. Multiple breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
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.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
Since the last inspection the provider and manager have made the necessary improvements. We were assured that people received safe care at this inspection.
Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.