• Care Home
  • Care home

Woodfield Court

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

21 Temple Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 1AT (01449) 675426

Provided and run by:
Stowcare Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 20 April 2023

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

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.

Service and service type

Woodfield Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us.

Woodfield Court 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection the registered manager had left the service and had not submitted their registration cancellation forms. The provider had appointed a new manager and they planned to apply to be the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 22 March 2023 when we visited the service and ended on 28 March 2023 when we gave feedback.

What we did before the 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 information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 25 January 2023 to help us plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During our visit we spoke with 5 people who used the service. We spoke with the provider’s nominated individual, the provider’s head of care, a manager, 1 senior carer, 2 care staff, 1 kitchen assistant and the receptionist. We spoke briefly to the activities lead, 1 domestic and 1 care staff member. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We undertook a tour of the service and observed the interactions between staff and people using the service to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed records relating to health and safety, including fire safety checks and audits.

We also reviewed records remotely, away from the service, including 4 people’s care records including, where applicable, their care plans, risk assessments and medicine administration records. We looked at 2 staff personnel files, training records and records relating to the governance of the service.

We fed back our findings of the inspection on 28 March 2023 to the provider’s nominated individual, their head of care and the manager.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 20 April 2023

Woodfield Court is a residential care home registered for 29 people , providing personal care and support to older people and people living with dementia. The home is over 2 levels and there were dining and communal areas and adapted bathrooms. At the time of our inspection there were 22 people living at the service.

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

There was a warm and friendly atmosphere within the home. People described being happy living at Woodfield Court and spoke positively about the care they received and the running of the home.

Systems were in place to reduce the risks of avoidable harm and abuse. Staff understood their responsibilities to report any concerns about people's care and safety. Risks to people were regularly monitored and assessed with appropriate management plans in place to mitigate. This included timely referrals to healthcare services.

People were provided with their medicines safely. The home was visibly clean and good infection control processes followed. Relatives told us they could visit their family members when they chose to.

Processes were in place to learn lessons when things had gone wrong with actions taken to reduce future incidents happening.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and recruitment was done safely. Staff were encouraged to professionally develop and were supported through an induction, ongoing training, and supervision.

People were 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.

Governance systems were in place to assess the safety and quality of care in the home. The provider was committed to the continual development of the home and was strengthening their oversight processes to support the new manager in their role. They were also implementing improved feedback systems to capture and reflect how the input of people, relatives and staff were used to shape home.

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 17 October 2017).

Why we inspected

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

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodfield Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.