Westwood Care Home

Updated 25 April 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector. An assistant inspector made contact with people by telephone to gain their feedback.

Service and service type

Westwood Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Westwood Care Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there had not been a registered manager in post for over 6 months. A new manager had recently been appointed and was planning to apply to CQC to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received from and about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who lived at Westwood Care Home about their views of care and support. We observed some interactions between people and the staff supporting them. We spoke with 7 people’s relatives by telephone.

We spoke with 8 members of staff including the new manager, owners and support staff.

We looked at a range of care records including care plans, risk assessments and medicine records. We reviewed 2 staff records, and the staff training records. We reviewed a range of records relating to the safety and maintenance of the building, and governance of the service.

Updated 25 April 2023

About the service

Westwood Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 29 people. The service provides support to adults with a range of needs including care and physical needs. The service comprises of two converted houses, with a lounge/dining area and a garden to the rear of the property. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people using the service.

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

Environmental and building risks were not well managed. Hazards and cleaning standards were not promptly responded to.

We found no evidence of people coming to harm, but medicine management was not sufficiently audited, and staff competence was not regularly checked. There was a lack of information and analysis about incidents, accidents, and quality of care.

Staff did not receive the support and training required to keep them up to date and confident delivering support to people. Staff performance and development was not audited.

Building standards and décor had not been maintained, resulting in some areas of the building being run down and requiring attention.

Governance and audit processes were not robust and did not identify or drive forward areas of improvement. A new manager had recently started in post and was beginning to review the quality of care and draw up action plans for improvement.

People enjoyed their meals and had choices and good access to food and drink. People’s dietary needs and preferences were understood and respected.

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 systems in the service generally supported this practice.

People felt well cared for by kind and respectful staff and managers. People felt their preferences were well understood and generally felt listened to but did not have a lot of choices about how they spent their time.

There had been changes to the provider which they were in the process of registering with us.

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 14 April 2021).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received that care was not provided to people in a safe or person-centred way. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, responsive and well-led 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 Westwood Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care, the premises, staff training and support, and governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.