• Care Home
  • Care home

Whetstone Grange

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

148 Enderby Road, Whetstone, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE8 6JJ (0116) 247 7007

Provided and run by:
A L A Care Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 11 March 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 undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Whetstone Grange 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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. A manager had been employed and plans to register with the CQC.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the manager, deputy manager, four care workers, activities coordinator and the housekeepers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and a sample of medicines records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed training data, policies, and action plans submitted.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 11 March 2021

About the service

Whetstone Grange is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 23 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 38 people.

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

The service had a newly employed manager who had not yet registered with the Care Quality Commission. This meant the provider was legally responsible for how the service was run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Quality assurance systems and processes were not embedded and required improvement. All legally required notifications were not always submitted to CQC. The manager and provider were open and transparent, knew improvements were needed, and were taking action to ensure these were addressed.

There was no formal process for calculating the required number of staff to meet people’s needs. However, we found there were enough suitably qualified staff on duty to meet people’s needs. A system was introduced following our inspection which was reflective of the inspection findings regarding staffing numbers.

Processes were in place to safely manage risks associated with people’s care. Care plans and risk assessments were reflective of people’s needs and staff knew people well.

There was adequate stock of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff to use. The service was observed to be clean and odour free. We saw some staff wearing face masks below their noses, this was addressed immediately by the manager. COVID-19 testing was undertaken for people and staff in line with government guidance and the service had developed a ‘visiting pod’ to enable friends and relatives to visit people when restrictions allowed.

People felt safe and were supported by safely recruited staff who protected them from harm or abuse. Staff were trained in safeguarding and recognised the signs of abuse and the requirement to report any concerns they had.

Medicines were administered on time, accidents and incidents were reported, and lessons learnt.

People received care from staff that were kind, caring and compassionate. People and staff had built positive relationships together and enjoyed spending time together.

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 22 January 2020).

A targeted inspection (Published 06 January 2021) did not change the rating of the service. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to a complaint and concerns received about infection prevention and control (IPC). As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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 not changed. However, the rating for well-led has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the well led section 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 the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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.