Whitegates Retirement Home

Updated 1 June 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Whitegates Retirement Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Whitegates Retirement Home is a care home without 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 a registered manager in post.

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 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

During the inspection we spoke with eight people and three people’s relatives about their experience of using the service. We looked at four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We spent time with people in communal areas and observed interactions between staff and people. We spoke to one health professional about their experience of working with the service. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, the care supervisor, senior care workers, the chef and carers.

Updated 1 June 2022

About the service

Whitegates retirement home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 24 people. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people using the service.

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

People were supported to keep safe by staff who knew them well. Risks to people were well managed and staff understood people's unique needs. There were enough staff to support people and staff were recruited safely. People were supported to receive their medicines safely. The home was clean and hygienic, and staff followed infection prevention and control procedures. People were supported to receive visitors to the home when they wanted to. Staff learned from incidents at the home and made changes to improve things for people.

People's needs were holistically assessed in line with standards, guidance and the law. People's preferences were detailed in their care plans for staff to follow. People received support from trained, experienced staff. People were supported to eat and drink by staff and were involved in decisions around the menus. Action was taken by staff when people were at risk of malnutrition or dehydration. Staff ensured people had access to healthcare when they needed it and worked with other professionals to provide support to people. The design of the home had been decided by people living at the home.

People were supported by staff that were kind and caring. People’s relatives agreed and told us, “Staff are lovely, absolutely lovely every single one. Cheerful, helpful and caring.” We saw that staff spent time with people, understood their individual differences and appreciated people's qualities. People were supported to express their views and were involved in making decisions about their own care. People's privacy and dignity was respected by staff and staff encouraged people to be independent.

Staff were responsive to people's needs. People's care was planned in a personalised way and the management team carried out regular observations to check that people were receiving this care. Staff knew how people wanted to be communicated with and made information accessible to them. There was a wide range of activities for people to get involved in and people told us they enjoyed these. Complaints and concerns raised were viewed by staff as an opportunity to improve the service for people.

The culture of the home was calm and friendly. Staff were positive about supporting people and people told us they enjoyed spending time with staff. The registered manager ensured that the quality of the service provided was regularly monitored and improvements made where needed. People and their relatives were positive about the registered manager, one person’s relative told us, “[manager] is a very helpful and considerate person and very interested in welfare of the residents.” People, relatives and staff were involved in how the service was run.

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

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 23 August 2022 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 20 October 2017.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.