Wisteria House

Updated 8 February 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Wisteria House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.’

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We contacted the Local Authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England for information they held about the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service. We also spoke with the operational manager and registered manager for the service, a senior carer and carer. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medicine records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We looked at quality assurance data and spoke with three relatives of people who lived at the service.

Updated 8 February 2020

About the service

Wisteria House is a residential care home providing personal care. This service does not provide nursing care. Wisteria House can accommodate up to seven people. At the time of our inspection seven people were living at the service. The service is based over two floors with communal areas for people to enjoy and use as well as a large accessible garden.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

Peoples care plans contained risk assessments which had been written from an assessment of the person’s needs and was updated as necessary. Staff were aware of the contents of the care plan so that they knew the individual requirements of each person and how to support them.

Sufficient members of staff were deployed with regard to the needs of the people using the service. Systems to recruit staff safely were robust and the registered manager had commenced involving people using the service in the staff recruitment process. Staff had received training including the safeguarding of people, infection control, administration of medicines and de-escalating techniques. Staff also informed us they had regular supervision and a yearly appraisal.

People had access to health professionals when needed. People were supported to maintain a healthy diet and support was planned to meet the assessed nutritional and health needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their life and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported his practice.

People’s privacy, independence and dignity were supported and respected by the staff. We observed staff listening carefully to and supporting people to make choices. People received a responsive service which was adaptable to support their needs depending upon their needs. There were systems in place to assess, plan and meet their individual needs and preferences. There was a complaints procedure in place. Relatives were involved in their care planning and the review of the care provided as appropriate.

The registered manager told us the about the aims of the service and the actions they had taken since being appointed which included recruitment, staff training and increasing the involvement of the people at Wisteria House in the running of the service. The registered manager completed audits to determine the quality of the care being provided and was further developing the staff skills in completing audits. Staff worked closely as necessary with other professionals to provide care to the people using the service. People’s views about the service were sought and acted upon for example, with determining the decorating of the communal areas.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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 19 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.