Willow House

Updated 3 February 2021

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.

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Willow House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We did not ask for a 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with a nurse, two care assistants and the registered manager. We also spoke with four relatives of people living at the home by telephone.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records. We also looked at medication records, two staff files and checks and audits that related to the management and quality assurance of the service.

After the inspection

The provided supplied us with additional information as requested including a number of audits which assess the quality of the service, minutes of meetings and training information.

Updated 3 February 2021

About the service

Willow House is a residential care home that was providing personal and nursing care to seven people with a range of needs including learning disabilities and distressed behaviours at the time of the inspection.

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

People felt safe and were supported by a group of staff who knew them well and how to keep them safe from harm. Staff were aware of the risks to people and were kept fully informed of any changes in people’s care needs. People received their medicines as prescribed. Where accidents and incidents took place, they were acted on and reported appropriately. This information was regularly reviewed to identify any trends or lessons to be learnt.

Staff followed the latest infection control guidance and had access to supplies of personal protective equipment. Systems were in place to ensure infection control measures were adhered to, which ensured the safety of service users and staff.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People were supported to maintain their independence and their views were respected. Staff knew people well and listened to what they had to say and what they wanted to do.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and Independence

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human Rights

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people

using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

People, staff and relatives were complimentary of the service and considered it to be well led. The registered manager felt supported in their role and knew people well. People were involved in their care and their voices were heard. There were a number of quality audits in place to provide the registered manager with oversight of the service. The service worked alongside other professionals to ensure people’s health care needs were met.

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 11 April 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the support people received at the service and staffs’ ability to keep people safe from harm. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained the same. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Willow House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.