White Plains Care Home

Updated 31 May 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one 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.

Service and service type:

White Plains Care Home 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. White Plains Care Home accommodates up to 38 older people in one adapted building.

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:

The inspection was unannounced on 4 March 2019. We informed the registered manager we would return on 5 March 2019.

What we did:

• Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We checked for feedback we received from members of the public, local authorities, records held by Companies House and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

• The provider completed the required Provider Information Return. This is information providers must send us to give us key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

• We spoke with 10 people who used the service and eight relatives. We observed staff supporting people at lunch time in the dementia suite and in the main dining room. We observed staff interactions with people throughout our visit and during structured activities. We spoke with the registered manager, three care workers, a team leader, a senior night member of staff, the assistant manager and the activities coordinator. We spoke with three healthcare providers and received email feedback from the safeguarding local authority.

• We reviewed parts of seven people's care records including care plans, risk assessments and medicines administration records and other records about the management of the service. After our inspection, we asked the registered manager to send us further documents which we received promptly and reviewed as part of our inspection.

Updated 31 May 2019

About the service: White Plains Care Home is a purpose built home for older people situated just outside the village of Denham. The home is set within eight acres of landscaped grounds overlooking the private Denham air field. The service provides accommodation and personal care for up to 38 older people. The service does not provide nursing care. At the time of our inspection there were 37 people using the service.

People's experience of using this service: The service was extremely caring and placed considerable importance upon staff taking time to build and maintain compassionate relationships with people, their relatives and friends. People and their relatives were very positive about and caring culture of the service and felt highly valued and involved in the development of the service.

People were supported by a staff team who understood their needs exceptionally well. Care planning documentation was extremely thorough and clearly identified people’s diverse needs, preferences and choices.

The service worked hard to arrange creative activities and events to meet people's individual interests. People at the end of their life were supported in accordance with their wishes and with great sensitivity.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Healthcare professionals told us the service was very effective at co-ordinating people's health and wellbeing with positive outcomes. Staff received appropriate training and support to ensure they could carry out their roles effectively.

The service had systems in place to promote safety and prevent avoidable harm. Medicines were administered in accordance with people's agreed care plans and management protocols were understood and followed by staff. People's risk assessments addressed their needs and clearly identified hazards, level of risk and safe measure.

The service provided strong leadership to a motivated staff team who felt valued by the registered manager. The service had effective quality assurance processes to measure, document, improve and evaluate the quality of care. There was evidence of continuous learning and improvement to develop dementia strategies to meet people's needs.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated “good” (16 April 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection to check that this service remained “good”.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, high quality care.

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