Archived: Wheaton Aston Care Home

Updated 18 August 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 was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The inspection took place on 30 June 2016 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Prior to the inspection we looked at the information we held about the service. The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asked the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the notifications that we had received from the provider about events that had happened at the service. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We reviewed the information we received from other agencies that had an interest in the service, such as the local authority and commissioners.

We spoke with 10 people who used the service; they were able to tell us their experiences with the service. We spoke with other people but due to their communication needs they were unable to provide us with detailed information about their care. We spoke with a relative of people who used the service to gain feedback about the quality of care. We spoke with the deputy manager, three regional support managers, a registered nurse, two care staff, a member of the ancillary team and two visiting health care professionals. We looked at nine people’s care records, two staff recruitment files and the quality monitoring audits. We did this to gain people’s views about the care and to check that standards of care were being met.

Updated 18 August 2016

This inspection took place on 30 June 2016 and was unannounced. This is the service’s first inspection since the since registration with the new provider registered with us in March 2016.

Wheaton Aston Care Home provides nursing and personal care and support for up to 36 people. At the time of this inspection 27 people used the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

Staff were aware of the action they should take where they had concerns regarding the safety of people. However, some unexplained and unwitnessed incidents had not been identified as potential abuse and they were not reported or investigated.

There was insufficient suitable staff available to meet people's individual needs. People experienced delays when staff were needed to provide them with the care and support they required.

The provider did not consistently follow the principles of the MCA 2005 to ensure that people consented to or were supported to consent to their care, treatment and support.

Systems the provider had in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service were ineffective. Audits had not identified the shortfalls in the care being delivered.

The provider was not fulfilling their legal obligations of their registration and did not notify us of serious incidents and events.

Risks to people's health and wellbeing were identified and reviewed, but care plans lacked the detail of the action needed to mitigate the risks to people.

Some people did not receive their medicines in the way they were prescribed. Not all topical medicine monitoring documents were completed accurately and at the time of the administration.

People generally told us they enjoyed the food and were provided with suitable amounts of food and drink of their choice. Not all records for the purpose of monitoring people's dietary needs had been fully completed to ensure people's nutritional needs were fully met.

People were supported to observe their faith and take part in activities, which met their cultural needs and interests, however community based activities were not arranged by the service.

Staff received the training they needed to provide care and support to people. Improvements to the way training was arranged had been identified.

People had access to health support and referrals were made to relevant health care professionals where there were concerns about people’s health.

Staff were recruited in accordance with the provider’s recruitment procedures.

We saw staff showed care and kindness towards people who used the service. People told us staff were caring that they had confidence in them to provide the support they needed. People’s rights to privacy and dignity were upheld.

There was a complaints procedure and people knew how to use it. People and relatives we spoke with told us the registered manager and staff were kind and approachable.