Archived: St Wilfrid's Care Home

Updated 1 June 2016

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 sustaining improvements previously made to the service, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 21, 22 and 23 March 2016. The inspection team consisted of one inspector, a specialist advisor 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. On this inspection the specialist adviser was a nurse with expertise in dementia care. The first day of our inspection was not announced, but we told the provider we would be returning for a second and third day.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. We contacted a representative from the local authority safeguarding team and spoke with two more professionals who worked with the service to obtain their feedback.

During the inspection we spoke with 13 people using the service. Some people could not let us know what they thought about the home because they could not always communicate with us verbally. We therefore used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI), which is a specific way of observing care to help us to understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with seven care workers, three senior care workers, the chef and the general manager of the service. The general manager had overall responsibility for running the home, but was not the registered manager of the service. The registered manager was not available during the week of our inspection. We looked at a sample of 11 people’s care records, six staff records and records related to the management of the service.

Updated 1 June 2016

We conducted an inspection of St Wilfrids Care Home on 21, 22 and 23 March 2016. The first day of the inspection was unannounced. We told the provider we would be returning for the second and third days.

At our previous inspection in July 2014 we identified some issues in relation to the care and welfare of people and in relation to compliance with the Mental Capacity Act. The provider sent us an action plan after this inspection setting out how they planned to address these issues. We conducted this inspection to check that improvements were being sustained in accordance with the provider’s latest action plan. We found that improvements had been made.

St Wilfrid’s Care Home is a care home for up to 44 older people. There are three floors at the home, all overseen by the general manager and the registered manager. There were approximately 15 residents on each floor. The first floor was home to approximately 15 older people, some of whom had mobility problems and the second and third floors were home to those with more advanced needs including dementia.

There was a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We observed some unsafe practices in relation to how medicines were administered on the first day of our inspection and there were some errors in the recording of controlled drugs. All other aspects of medicines management were dealt with appropriately.

Risk assessments and support plans contained clear information for staff. All records were reviewed every month or where the person’s care needs had changed.

Staff demonstrated knowledge of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of people’s life histories and current circumstances and supported people to meet their individual needs in a caring way.

People using the service and their relatives were involved in decisions about their care and how their needs were met. People had care plans in place that reflected their assessed needs.

Recruitment procedures ensured that only staff who were suitable, worked within the service. There was an induction programme for new staff, which prepared them for their role. Staff were provided with appropriate training to help them carry out their duties. Staff received regular supervision. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs.

People who used the service gave us good feedback about the care workers. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and people’s cultural and religious needs were met.

People were supported to maintain a balanced, nutritious diet. People were supported effectively with their health needs and were supported to access a range of healthcare professionals.

People using the service and staff felt able to speak with the management team and provided feedback on the service. They knew how to make complaints and there was a complaints policy and procedure in place.

People were encouraged to participate in activities they enjoyed and people’s feedback was obtained to determine whether they found activities or events enjoyable or useful. An activities programme was in place and this included a mixture of one to one sessions and group activities.

The organisation had adequate systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Feedback was obtained from people through monthly residents meetings and annual questionnaires about the service and the results of these were positive. There was evidence of auditing in many areas of care provided and actions were taken to rectify issues.

We made a recommendation to the provider with regard to documenting the learning and development needs of staff.