Background to this inspection
Updated
23 January 2018
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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 4 and 6 December 2017. The first day was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan the inspection.
As part of the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and requested feedback from other stakeholders. These included Healthwatch Kirklees, the local authority safeguarding team and the Clinical Commissioning Group. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. After the inspection we spoke with three healthcare professionals who visited people at the home.
During the inspection we spoke with seven people who used the service, three people’s relatives or friends, two members of care staff, the acting manager, the acting deputy manager, the regional manager for the care company employed by the administrators, the activities coordinator and a cook.
As part of the inspection we looked at two people’s care files in detail and selected care plans from one other person’s care file. We also inspected three staff members’ recruitment and supervision documents, the home’s staff training records, three people’s medicines administration records, accident and incident records, and various other documents related to the running of the service.
Updated
23 January 2018
We inspected Sun Woodhouse Care Home (known to the people who live and work there as ‘Sun Woodhouse’) on 4 and 6 December 2017. The first day of the inspection was unannounced. This meant the home did not know we were coming.
Sun Woodhouse is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The home provides residential care for up to 24 people. It consists of one building with two floors. People’s rooms are on both floors, near shared bathroom and toilet facilities. On the ground floor there is a communal lounge and separate dining area.
On the first day of inspection there were 15 people living at the home. On the second day, one person was admitted for respite care.
Sun Woodhouse was last inspected in July 2017. This was a focused inspection, which meant we only inspected and rated the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led. We found breaches of the regulations relating to safe care and treatment, consent and good governance, although the service evidenced work to address these breaches was completed within four days of the inspection. Prior to this, we inspected all five key questions in May 2017, and rated the home as ‘Requires Improvement’ in the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led, and ‘Good’ in Caring and Responsive.
A manager was registered for the home; however, they had left the service in November 2017 and were in the process of deregistering. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
In September 2017 the registered provider went into administration. The administrators had employed a care company to run the home while a buyer was sought and had oversight of their management.
An area manager for the registered provider was acting manager at the home; a new manager had been recruited and was due to start two weeks after the inspection. A senior care worker had been promoted acting deputy manager, and a regional manager for the care company employed by the administrators visited weekly. There had therefore been significant changes in management at the home in the months preceding this inspection.
Records showed appropriate checks were made on the home’s facilities, utilities and equipment. Risks to people had been assessed and managed. Staff could describe the different forms of abuse people may be vulnerable to and said they would report any concerns.
Medicines were managed and administered safely.
Due to various factors, a number of staff had left the service since the last inspection. Recruitment was underway, although this had been challenging due to the registered provider’s administration status. People and relatives said there were enough staff, although they were busy.
People and relatives told us the home was clean, but could benefit from redecoration. The regional manager for the care company employed by the administrators described plans to make corridor areas of the home more dementia-friendly.
Despite the challenges posed by the registered provider’s administration status and loss of the registered manager, staff received the training and supervision they needed to provide effective care.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems of the service supported this practice. This was an improvement from the last inspection.
Feedback about food and drinks served at the home was positive. Catering and care staff could describe people’s specific dietary needs and preferences.
The care staff worked as a team to support people, and worked in partnership with external healthcare professionals to help meet people’s wider health needs. We saw practice at the home was based upon national guidelines and standards.
People told us, and we observed, staff were kind and caring, and often went the extra mile to meet people’s needs. Relatives told us they were always made to feel welcome at Sun Woodhouse.
Care staff supported people to remain independent, and were respectful of people’s privacy and dignity. Records showed people and their relatives had been involved in care planning.
People’s care plans were individualised and contained person-centred details about their preferences. Records showed, and we saw, people were supported in accordance with their care plans.
People had access to a range of activities at the home. We received positive feedback about a new activities coordinator; they were in the process of getting to know people and finding out their activity preferences.
No complaints had been made since the last inspection in July 2017. People and their relatives told us they would go to the acting home manager and acting deputy manager if they had any concerns.
Changes at the home due the registered provider going into administration had been communicated sensitively to people, relatives and staff. Feedback about the management team in place at the time of this inspection was positive.
The care company employed by the administrators had put measures in place to improve staff retention and we found staff morale was good.
A range of audits were in place to monitor safety and quality at the service. The acting home manager and regional manager for the care company employed by the administrators had good oversight of the home and reported their findings to the administrators.
The home had an open and inclusive culture. People, their relatives and staff were encouraged to feed back their suggestions and ideas for improvement.