Merlewood

Updated 2 December 2020

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 care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 5 November 2020 and was unannounced.

Updated 2 December 2020

About the service

Merlewood is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for to 53 people aged 65 and over, some who may be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 38 people were living at the service. Merlewood accommodates people across two separate wings. Both wings have their own communal lounge area. There are two dining areas for people’s communal use.

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

People told us they were cared for by staff who were kind and caring and that they felt involved in determining their own care and making their own decisions.

People said they felt safe living at Merlewood and this was mostly down to the fact they felt there were sufficient staff who checked on them. People told us they received the medicines they required and had access to healthcare professionals if they needed it.

Activities were varied and we received mainly positive feedback about these, particularly the trips out. However, some people did say they would like further choice. People’s care plans in general had good, detailed information. However, we found there was at times a lack of evidencing of the care that had been provided. Management told us this was due to the electronic care planning system still embedding into the service.

People gave positive feedback about the food they were offered and they told us they had no concerns about the cleanliness of the home. People said the manager led the service well. This was reiterated by staff who told us they felt supported and that the new manager had had a positive impact.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service did support this practice.

Continual reviews of the service and care were carried out to look for ways to improve or change. Information was analysed and discussed with staff for learning purposes.

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

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection we gave the service a rating of Good (the report was published on 14 October 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.