Archived: The Wharf Care Centre

Updated 19 September 2019

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Wharf Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we looked at the information we had received about the service since it became registered. This included details about incidents the registered provider must notify us about, such as abuse and accidents. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We also requested feedback from Healthwatch to obtain their views of the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, team leaders and care staff, the activities coordinator and a chef. We also spoke with one of the directors of the company and their nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. These included four people’s care records and multiple medicine records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager and spoke with one of the directors regarding the testing of the fire alarm. We looked at information sent to us following the inspection.

Updated 19 September 2019

About the service

The Wharf is care home registered to provide personal and nursing care to for up to 67 people. At the time of the inspection the home was providing personal care to 11 people. The home comprises of a newly built three story building. The top floor which was not in use at the time of the inspection is for people requiring nursing care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

This was the first inspection since the home opened. The registered manager was supported by their manager and the provider to develop the home.

Staff practices in relation to the management of medicines and the storage of cleaning materials needed to be improved to ensure people were safe. Cleaning chemicals were not always securely held, and improvement was needed to ensure people had creams applied as prescribed and protocols needed to be devised for people receiving medicines on an as needed basis.

Systems to monitor the quality of care at the service had not identified areas of concern we identified during the inspection.

The registered manager had recognised the need to make improvements in areas such as the regular testing of the fire alarm. Improvement had taken place although this needed to be strengthened further. Equipment used was tested on a regular basis to ensure it was safe.

People felt safe living at the home and staff were aware of their responsibility to protect people from the risk of abuse and harm.

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.

Sufficient staff were available to meet people’s needs. Recruitment was on going in line with the registered manager’s desire to increase the number of people living at the home. People told us when they needed assistance, staff responded promptly. Not all members of staff had completed their training, the registered manager was aware of where improvements needed to be made.

Care plans and risk assessments were in place and regularly reviewed. Some areas of people’s identified need were not however always included within the care records.

People were cared for by staff who were kind and caring. People’s privacy was respected, and dignity maintained. The majority of people liked the food supplied. Staff had a good knowledge about people’s dietary likes and dislikes.

People were complimentary about the management and believed they would be listened to in the event of them having any concerns.

People had the opportunity to have fun and interesting things to do in relation to recreational activities.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 13/07/2018 and this is the first inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, responsive and well led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

The registered manager has assured us they have taken action to make improvements since our inspection to mitigate risks to people.

Enforcement

We have identified one breach. This was in relation to ensuring hazardous items were stored safely as well as ensuring medicine management was in place to keep people safe and having systems in place to monitor and identify shortfalls in the service provided.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.