Wavertree Nursing and Care Home

Updated 13 May 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by 2 inspectors

Service and service type

Wavertree Nursing and Care Home 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. Wavertree Nursing and Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. There was a management team in post and the provider was in the process of recruiting a permanent manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service and 3 family members to gather their views of the service provided. We spoke with 5 care staff, a nurse, clinical lead, interim manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We looked at 6 people's care plans and medication records for 7 people. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and a range of other records relevant to the overall management of the service.

Updated 13 May 2023

About the service

Wavertree Nursing and Care Home provides accommodation and nursing/personal care for up to 46 people. At the time of our inspection there were 40 people living in the home.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

Safe recruitment processes were mostly being followed to check new applicants' suitability to work for the service. However, we identified some improvements were needed to ensure that references were obtained from suitable people and verified where needed and that any gaps in employment history were explored and explained. We have made a recommendation regarding this.

People's needs and risks to their health and safety had been assessed and care plans contained information for staff to follow to provide the right support. However, we identified some improvements were needed to the level of detail and accuracy in some people's care plans. The provider was already aware that improvements were needed to care plans and had implemented new care planning documents to address this.

Accidents and incidents were recorded and acted upon appropriately to ensure people received the right support, for example referrals to external health professionals. However, we identified that some improvements were needed to ensure that a thorough review and analysis of incidents was completed in order to look at patterns and trends and prevent them occurring in the future. Staff received safeguarding training and knew how to respond to any concerns or allegations of abuse. People told us they felt safe living at the service.

There were enough staff on duty to support people safely. Observations showed that staff responded to requests for support in a timely manner.

Relevant safety checks were completed on the environment and equipment used by people to support with their mobility needs. The home was clean and well-maintained. Domestic staff completed regular cleaning schedules to evidence tasks they had completed. Visits to the home were permitted in line with current visiting guidance for care homes.

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.

Staff worked closely with external health and social care services to ensure people received the right support. Relevant referrals were completed when people's needs changed or when concerns about their health or well-being were identified.

Governance systems had identified areas in need of improvement and the provider showed us evidence of how they planned to make necessary improvements to the service.

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 22 December 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to risk management. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.

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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe, effective and well-led full sections of this report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wavertree Nursing and Care Home 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.