Archived: Keychange Charity Walmer House Care Home

Updated 3 March 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 10 February 2021 and was announced.

Updated 3 March 2021

About the service

Keychange Charity Walmer House Care Home (hereafter referred to as Walmer House) is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 13 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 17 people. Walmer House is in an adapted property with some period features over two floors, it has a lift and stair lifts for ease of access and mature gardens.

At our last inspection we identified eight breaches of regulation, and we were concerned about the quality of care in the service. At this inspection we found lots of improvement and the service was no longer in breach of any regulation.

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

People told us they felt safe and happy at Walmer House. We did find that some aspects of safety needed further improvement. We made the registered manager aware that some windows were not safely restricted in line with national guidance and discussed how some care plans and risk assessments could contain greater detail. We did not feel that people were unsafe. Medicines were managed safely, and people were supported in an environment that was clean and tidy. There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs, but we discussed with the registered manager whether further staffing could be explored to support people with activities.

People were supported to access healthcare services and remain healthy. Staff were provided with training that supported them to meet people’s needs. Food was plentiful, well presented and balanced. People told us they enjoyed the food and there was now a variety on offer. The environment had undergone several improvements since the last inspection, and the service was easier to navigate for those people who may have been living with a dementia.

People were now 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 saw improvements in staff training and recruitment, and people were now supported by staff who were supervised, worked well as a team, and felt supported by the management team.

Staff were kind and caring and people said they trusted staff and could approach them about anything. People were supported to maintain their independence and more involved in their care decisions by staff that knew them well and enjoyed their company.

Care plans and care provided was person centred and in line with people’s preferences. People and relatives felt comfortable to complain and were confident their views were listened to. The service arranged activities and entertainers. Some people expressed they would like to go out more but the majority of people we spoke with were happy with the level of activities in the service.

The registered manager was visible, and people and relatives knew who they were. There was now a strong sense of putting people first and the registered manager had worked hard to improve the culture of the service, so it focussed on a quality service for people living there. Quality assurance systems were more robust, and the service was working in partnership with key professionals to ensure positive outcomes were achieved with and for people

We made one recommendation regarding staffing levels.

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 26 September 2019) and there were eight 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 regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Keychange Charity Walmer House Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.