30 August 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Warde Aldam is care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 60 people. The service provides support to people in one adapted building with three separate units. Two units specialise in providing care to people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 58 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Risks to people were not always assessed. Records for people who required the use of hoists did not always contain enough information to keep them safe. The provider had auditing systems in place, however these were not always effective in identifying areas for improvement. For example, concerns were found during our inspection in relation to infection control, fire safety and care plan records and these were not identified by the service. We saw some furniture and flooring to be visibly stained and a malodour in some areas of the service. We have made a recommendation the provider reviews the quality monitoring systems.
People were protected from the risk of abuse. Incidents were monitored by the registered manager and staff told us they felt comfortable to raise concerns. People and relatives said they felt safe. There were enough staff, who had been safely recruited and received appropriate training, to meet people's needs. Medicines were safely stored, administered and disposed of. Accidents and incidents were monitored, and trends and patterns identified to mitigate future risks.
Staff felt supported by the registered manager and people and relatives were positive about how the service was managed. The management team worked closely with community health professionals to ensure people received appropriate care and support.
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.
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 18 February 2019)
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about care and treatment, medicines and staffing. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Warde Aldam on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Recommendations
We recommend the provider reviews the quality monitoring systems to ensure they identify concerns with premises and equipment in a timely manner.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.