2 December 2022
During a routine inspection
Whitestones Care Home is a residential home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 41 people. The service provides support to people who have a physical disability, sensory impairment, dementia or mental health. At the time of the inspection there were 21 people using the service.
The accommodation was all on 1 floor, with communal lounge and dining areas. People had access to secure outdoor space.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Medicines were not always safely managed. Where people took medicines ’as and when required’ there was a lack of guidance for staff to know how and when to support people to take these and reasons for the medicines being given were not always recorded.
The provider had not always explored how people would prefer to be cared for at the end of their lives. Complaints were not always reviewed for lessons to be learnt.
There were enough staff to support people and checks were made on their suitability to work in the service. People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff understood their responsibilities and appropriate referrals were made. People were protected from the risk of infection and were able to have visitors as appropriate.
People were supported to have 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.
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 20 February 2020).
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 the provider remained in breach of regulations. The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last 2 consecutive inspections.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Whitestones Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to 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.