The Care Quality Commission
  • Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: St William's Care Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Cornwall Avenue, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 2LJ (01325) 778679

Provided and run by:
Bupa Care Homes (GL) Limited

All Inspections

6 January 2015

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 6 January 2015 and was unannounced. This meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

St William’s Residential Home provides care and accommodation for up to 21 people, including people living with dementia. On the day of our inspection there were 10 people using the service.

The home had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

St William’s Residential Home was last inspected by CQC on 29 November 2013 and was compliant.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to meet the needs of people using the service. The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant checks when they employed staff.

We saw evidence that thorough investigations had been carried out in response to safeguarding incidents or allegations and comprehensive medication audits were carried out regularly by the registered manager.

Staff training was up to date and staff received regular supervisions and appraisals, which meant that staff were properly supported to provide care to people who used the service.

All of the care records we looked at contained consent forms, which were signed by the people who used the service or their representatives.

CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) are part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They aim to make sure that people in care homes, hospitals and supported living are looked after in a way that does not inappropriately restrict their freedom. We discussed DoLS with the manager and looked at records. We found the provider was following the requirements in the DoLS.

People who used the service, and family members, were complimentary about the standard of care at St William’s Residential Home. They told us, “It’s a good home”, “The staff are wonderful” and “He’s well looked after”.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect and people were encouraged to care for themselves where possible.

We saw that the home had a full programme of activities in place for people who used the service.

All the care records we looked at showed people’s needs were assessed before they moved into the home and we saw care plans were written in a person centred way.

We saw a copy of the provider’s complaints policy and procedure and saw that complaints were fully investigated.

The provider had a robust quality assurance system in place and gathered information about the quality of their service from a variety of sources.

29 November 2013

During a routine inspection

We spoke with eight people from 18 living at the home. We also spoke with relatives and a visiting healthcare professional. Some people were not able to tell us directly what they thought about the service. However, during our visit we spent time observing how care staff supported people and this was positive and respectful .People told us, 'They look after me well' and 'The staff are lovely, the carers are so kind'.

All the staff we spoke with knew the needs of the people they were caring for well and interacted with people very positively.

There were policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety of people living at St Williams. Staff we spoke with were familiar with safeguarding processes and people we spoke with said they felt safe at the home.

There were sufficient staff on duty to support people for their care needs. We saw staff were recruited safely and appropriate checks were obtained and induction training provided.

We saw the provider had a quality monitoring process in place to check the quality of the service, which included seeking the views of people and their relatives. There was also a system for reporting and acknowledging complaints which was well publicised around the home.

23 April 2012

During a routine inspection

We were not able to speak to all of the people using this service due to people's different levels of understanding and abilities to communicate. Because of this we spent time observing care, spoke with relatives and looked at complaints and surveys that had been completed. Where we did speak with people, the majority of comments made were very positive about the home and the staff that worked there.