Background to this inspection
Updated
12 April 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 comprehensive inspection took place on 8 and 9 February 2018 and was announced. The registered provider was given 24 hours' notice so they could arrange for people and staff to be available to talk with us about the service.
The inspection was carried out by one inspector. As part of planning the inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service. We looked at information received from the
local authority commissioners and the statutory notifications the managers had sent us. Statutory notifications contain details of events and incidents the provider is required to notify us about by law. These can include unexpected deaths and injuries that occurred when people received care. We also considered the information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give us some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection visit.
During our visit we spoke with the registered manager, acting manager, five people who used the service, two relatives, four care staff, and the wellbeing advisor.
We looked at two care plans and other records related to people’s care and how the service operated. These included, the information staff used to tell them what support people needed to receive and at what times. We looked at medicine records, records of complaints, staff recruitment records and the service’s quality records which included audits and notes of meetings with people and staff.
Updated
12 April 2018
Willowbrook provides personal care and support to people who live in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented, and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at the provision of the personal care service. Willowbrook has 61 properties. At the time of our visit there were 28 people receiving personal care support.
At the last inspection on 20 May 2015 the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the service remained ‘Good’.
The inspection took place on 8 and 9 February 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of our visit so they could arrange for people and staff to be available to talk with us about the service.
A registered manager was in post and was available to support this inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. However, the registered manager had not been working full time at the service for several months as they had been providing management support to another of the provider’s services. There were plans for them to continue to provide this support for a further short period of time. An acting manager had therefore been appointed to manage Willowbrook, on a temporary basis, until the registered manager returned.
People told us they felt safe with the staff who provided their care and said staff were respectful, caring and helpful. Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of abuse and completed the necessary training so they had the knowledge and skills required to keep people safe.
There were enough staff to carry out the care calls and to meet people’s needs safely. The provider checked staff's suitability for their role before they started working at the service. Staff were motivated and worked as a team to deliver a person centred service. Staff knew people well and understood the importance of maintaining people’s preferred routines. People were provided with opportunities to participate in social activities and attend entertainment at the service to promote their wellbeing.
Risks to people's individual health and wellbeing were identified and care was planned to minimise these whilst continuing to promote people's independence. A wellbeing advisor supported people with their healthcare needs to help them maintain good health. They worked closely with a local GP to ensure when people’s health changed, they received the advice and treatment they required. Staff provided people with the necessary help and support to take their prescribed medicines.
People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet that met their needs and preferences. People had the choice of eating in the restaurant within Willowbrook. Those people who needed assistance with their food and drinks had pre-arranged care calls so this could be provided.
Managers and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and supported people in line with these principles. This included staff seeking consent from people before delivering care. Care plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to assist them in providing the personalised care people required.
The provider had a clear management structure with effective systems and processes to oversee the quality of services and care provided. All staff spoken with told us of their commitment to provide people with a quality service. People told us they found staff approachable and responsive to their needs. There were regular ‘resident’ meetings where people could share their views and opinions about the quality of the service they received. There were also quality audit processes completed by management staff to ensure the service continued to meet people’s needs to the standards they expected.
Information about how to raise a complaint was available to people and people knew who to speak with if they had a concern. Complaints made had been appropriately acted upon and responded to.