Archived: Oak Wood House

Updated 16 March 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 19 February 2021 and was announced.

Updated 16 March 2021

About the service:

Oak Wood House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 18 people aged 65 and over. The service was registered in December 2018. At the time of inspection 14 people were

living at the home.

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

The registered manager was continuing to develop and embed systems to manage the quality of the service and drive improvements. A programme of audits was in place, and quality assurance surveys and meetings for people and their relatives planned. Monitoring and accountability was being improved through the introduction of ‘lead roles’ for senior staff, a key worker system and formal supervisions and appraisals.

A range of mandatory training supported staff to meet people’s needs. This included health and safety, information governance, fire safety, equality and diversity, infection control, moving and handling and safeguarding. The registered manager had also worked alongside the local authority QAIT team (Quality Assurance and Improvement Team) and external health professionals to ensure staff had the practical training they needed. This included continence management, falls prevention and pressure area care.

People were cared for safely. Personal risks were assessed, and measures put in place to mitigate identified risks. Care plans were detailed, person centred and reviewed regularly with people and their relatives where appropriate. Staff were recruited safely, and safeguarding processes helped to protect people from abuse. There were systems to ensure information about any changes in people’s needs was shared promptly across the staff team.

People received their medicines safely, and in the way prescribed for them. The provider had good systems to manage safeguarding concerns, accidents, infection control and environmental safety.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of competent and skilled staff. This meant their healthcare and nutritional needs were met. External professionals were complimentary about how the service worked in partnership with them.

People enjoyed the homely ambience and social interaction at Oak Wood House. They were supported to participate in activities if they wished. A relative told us, “At home [my family member] was just staring into space, and conversation was limited.” They now described them as ‘animated and chatty’. The activities programme was due to be further developed, with the newly recruited dementia lead planning to build greater links with the local community and outside world.

Staff were caring and kind and had developed positive and meaningful relationships with people. People were respected, included in decisions, and their privacy and independence promoted. The care provided was sensitive to people's diverse needs. All information was available in an accessible format if required. Further improvements were being considered, for example the provision of a picture menu.

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.

People, their representatives and staff were confident if they had a complaint they would be listened to and action taken to address the issue. There was an open culture and ideas to develop and improve the service were welcomed.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

This service was registered with us on 19 December 2018 and this is the first comprehensive inspection.

A focused inspection was carried out on 18 April 2019. There were two breaches of regulation. The inspection considered the Key Questions of Safe and Well-led only. It was prompted by notification of a specific incident, following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation by the CQC. As a result, the focused inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. As the service had only been recently registered and the inspection was not comprehensive, (that is looking at all five domains), a rating was not given. The provider completed an action plan after the inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At the current inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.