West View

Updated 26 January 2024

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 1 inspector, a regulatory officer 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

West View 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection, the home did have a registered manager who was also the provider. The provider had employed a new manager who would be applying to the commission to become registered manager. The new manager supported this inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. Inspection onsite activity was carried out on 4 and 10 October 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 8 people who used the service and 3 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with 11 members of staff including the provider, the new manager, deputy manager, finance manager, the cook, cleaner and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 8 care plans, 3 staff recruitment files, staff training records and records associated with the provider's quality monitoring systems. We sent emails to 5 health professionals involved with the service to ask for their feedback but did not receive any replies.

Updated 26 January 2024

About the service

West View is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 28 people. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 25 people using the service.

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

Quality assurance and governance systems in place to assess, monitor, and improve the quality and safety of the services provided had failed to identify the issues we found during this inspection.

People were placed at risk of unsafe care as their care needs and associated risks had not been routinely assessed, updated and monitored. Records and checks in place had failed to identify when people had lost weight, had not received sufficient to drink or were not having their diabetes monitored effectively.

Risks associated with the environment were not always managed safely as some routine safety checks of the environment were not always being completed.

Medicines management was not always safe as medicines were not always stored appropriately, guidance for staff was not always in place and some liquids and creams were not dated when they were opened. However, we found people were receiving their medicines as prescribed for them and when they needed them.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Mental capacity assessments and best interests decisions had not always been completed for some restrictions.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and told us they felt safe and were happy with the support they received. People described staff as “lovely”, “Staff are wonderful” and “I’m looked after very well.”

People were cared for by enough staff to meet their needs and staff were recruited safely.

Systems and processes were in place to protect people from the risk of infections and people were supported to receive visitors when they wanted.

Staff were provided with an induction and training relevant to the needs of people living at the service. However, there were gaps in the staffs' training and staff supervision that had been identified and action was being taken to address this.

People told us they enjoyed the meals on offer and choices were available. There was a calm atmosphere during mealtimes with staff respectfully asking people if they needed support before intervening.

People and relatives told us staff responded appropriately to their health needs and staff worked closely with health professionals to ensure people received the support they needed.

People and their relatives were engaged and involved in the service and asked for their feedback.

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 31 August 2017)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

The overall rating has changed from good 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 West View Inspection report 27 July 2017 on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and recommendations

We identified breaches of regulation regarding protecting people from risk, application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and good governance.

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

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.