About the service The Wharf Care Centre is a care home providing accommodation, personal and nursing care and treatment of disease, disorder or injury to up to 67 people. The service provides support to older and younger people who may live with dementia, physical disability, sensory or mental health support needs. At the time of our inspection there were 49 people using the service.
The Wharf Care Centre accommodates people in one adapted building.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s risks had been assessed and staff were provided with the information they required to promote people’s safety. Staff understood what actions to take if they had any concerns for people’s well-being. Where staff had not been available to undertake their planned shifts the manager and provider’s representative had taken appropriate action to address this. Checks were undertaken on the suitability of staff before they commenced employment.
Staff were not allowed to administer people’s medicines until they were trained to do this. The manager and provider’s representative planned to introduce additional checks to ensure people received their medicines at the times they required them. Staff took action to reduce the likelihood of the spread of infections. Incidents, accidents and complaints were reviewed, and learning was taken from these.
People’s needs and preferences were assessed, and relatives were consulted as part of this process. Relatives gave us examples of how staff used their skills to support their family members to maintain their physical health and mental well-being. Systems were in place to support people to have the meals they required safely.
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’s told us they valued the relationships they had built with the staff caring for them and found staff to be kind and considerate. Staff gave us examples showing how they promoted people’s independence, dignity and involved them and their relatives in decisions about their care. The manager and provider’s representative planned to review window treatments to further enhance people’s privacy.
People’s risk assessments and care plans provided staff with the guidance they needed to provide personalised care to people and were regularly reviewed.
People were supported to do interesting things which they enjoyed. The manager and provider’s representative were in the process of recruiting new staff to increase the breadth of interesting things for people to access. Systems were in place to manage and take learning from complaints and concerns received. Relatives were complimentary about the care provided to people at the end of their lives.
Relatives and staff told us the culture at the home was open and focused on the needs of the people living at the home. The registered manager and provider undertook checks on the quality and safety of the care provided and planned to develop these further.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for the service was good, published on 25 November 2020.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about people’s safety when eating and staffing levels at the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and effective sections of this full report.
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 The Wharf Care Centre 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.