Archived: Willow Lodge

Updated 6 February 2015

The inspection team consisted of an inspector 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. 

During our visit we spoke with seven people who lived at Willow Lodge, seven relatives, a community nurse, the nurse in charge of the shift, six care staff, and the registered manager. We spent time observing care and support being delivered in the main communal areas, and we viewed the bedrooms of seven people who lived at the home. We also looked at a range of records, including seven people’s care plans, six staff files and other records relating to the management of the service.

Some people had complex needs so we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) to observe the way they were cared for and supported. SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service which included   statutory notifications we have received in the last 12 months and the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form we asked the provider to complete prior to our visit which gives us some key information about the service, including what the service does well, what they could do better and improvements they plan to make. We also contacted a commissioner of the service to obtain their views about Willow Lodge.

This report was written during the testing phase of our new approach to regulating adult social care services. After this testing phase, inspection of consent to care and treatment, restraint, and practice under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was moved from the key question ‘Is the service safe?’ to ‘Is the service effective?

The ratings for this location were awarded in October 2014. They can be directly compared with any other service we have rated since then, including in relation to consent, restraint, and the MCA under the ‘Effective’ section. Our written findings in relation to these topics, however, can be read in the ‘Is the service safe’ sections of this report.

Updated 6 February 2015

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 and to and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service. This was an unannounced inspection.

At our last inspection in August 2013 we found the service was meeting the regulations we looked at and did not identify any concerns about the care and support people who lived at Willow Lodge received.

Willow Lodge is a care home that provides accommodation, nursing and personal care for up to 27 older people living with the experience of dementia. There were 25 people living at the home when we visited.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

People told us they felt happy and safe living at Willow Lodge. They also told us staff were kind and caring, and our observations and discussions with relatives supported this. We saw staff treated people with dignity and respect. 

Staff were familiar with people’s individual needs and knew how to meet them. We saw staff had built up good working relationships with people who lived at Willow Lodge. There were enough properly trained and well supported staff working at the home to meet people’s needs.   

People or their representatives were involved in developing care plans. We saw people were supported to make decisions about their care and support. People could choose to participate in a range of in-house social events and activities.  

There was a clear management structure in the home. People who lived at Willow Lodge, relatives and staff felt comfortable about sharing their views and talking to the manager and senior nursing staff if they had any concerns or ideas to improve the service. The registered manager demonstrated a good understanding of their role and responsibilities, and staff told us the manager was always supportive and fair. There were systems in place to routinely monitor the safety and quality of the service provided.

We found that the service was meeting the requirements of the deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act to promote people’s rights.