Willow View Care Home

Ratings

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

Willow View Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 77 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom may be living with a dementia, physical disability or sensory impairment. The home is divided into 2 areas: Willow View and Willow Gardens. The 2 areas are joined by a covered walkway, and both areas comprise of 2 floors. At the time of our inspection there were 38 people living at the service. At the last inspection in January 2024, we rated this service requires improvement and found 2 continued breaches of regulation. At this assessment we found the service had driven improvement across all areas and all breaches of regulation were now met. A new manager joined the service in July 2024 and reached out to partner agencies for support to help drive improvements and build relationships. The environment was clean and well maintained with an ongoing plan of refurbishment well underway. We saw medicines were now administered safely and care plans and risk assessments for people included all their current needs and recorded how people wished to be supported. Staff recruitment was safe and staff levels were provided at safe levels. The staff team were motivated, and they told us with pride about improvements, their training and how the service was now well-led. We observed people appeared happy, well dressed and cared for. People were supported with their health and care needs and the manager was committed to ensuring people received appropriate care and supported when they needed it. The service had built strong relationships with health and social care professionals, who were complimentary of their approach. The management team had created a robust governance system, which rapidly identified the smallest of issue, we now needed the improvements to be fully embedded and sustained.

People's experience of this service

We spoke with 7 people who used the service, 3 relatives and a visiting healthcare professional. People we spoke with said they were happy at Willow View. People appeared happy and engaged with the staff supporting them. We observed staff giving people choices and enjoying activities. Relatives we spoke with all commented on the significant improvement at the service in recent months. One relative said, “The new manager is very approachable he has held family meetings, and I filled out questionnaires. I feel he listens and is open to suggestions about change.” A visiting healthcare professional told us, “The care home manager [Name] is very approachable and has built up an excellent rapport with the district nursing team on his time managing the home. The staff within Willow View are all very friendly, helpful and appear very caring towards the residents and visiting families. This includes staff of all levels from the cleaners, kitchen staff, the handy man and the care staff.”