Archived: The Windmill Care Home

Updated 22 April 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.

As part of this inspection, we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 medicines inspector. An Expert by Experience spoke to people who lived in the service and their relatives by telephone afterwards. 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

The Windmill 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. The Windmill 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 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 29 March 2023 and ended on 20 April 2023, when final feedback was given, with some aspects of the inspection being carried out remotely. We visited the location’s service on 29 March and 3 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We received feedback from the local authority. 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 7 relatives, 7 people who used the service, 10 staff including the deputy manager, the registered manager, and the providers. We received feedback from 2 health care professionals. We observed people’s care and support. We reviewed a range of records. This included 6 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 22 April 2023

About the service

The Windmill Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 35 people. The service provides support to older people who may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service.

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

Since the last inspection the provider and management team had made improvements, with support from the local authority, which had benefitted the people and staff who worked there. The governance structures were in place to oversee and manage the service and take forward actions identified following the last CQC inspection and from quality and infection prevention and control visits from the local authority.

There had been a major refurbishment programme which included two new shower rooms and people’s bedrooms gradually being upgraded and the kitchen soon to be refurbished.

Staff understood how to protect people from harm or discrimination. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs and ensure their safety. Risks to people were assessed and their safety monitored and managed.

Staff enjoyed working at the service and acknowledged the improvements which had been made. One said, “The home has come on leaps and bounds and I am proud to be able to work here and be part of the team.”

People who used the service were happy with the care and environment. One person said, “There’s not a great difference between the Ritz and here.” A relative was happy with the staff and how they treated people. They said, “The staff are very friendly, caring and approachable. They are polite to [person]. When I take [them] out, [they] can’t wait to go back. [They] give more affection to the staff than [they] does to [their relatives]! [They] always looks immaculate.”

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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 requires improvement (published on 21 July 2021). The service had breaches of regulations. 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 regulations.

Why we inspected

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 and Well-led which contained those requirements.

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.

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 requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Windmill Care Home 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.