Archived: The Willows

A requirement of the service's registration is that they have a registered manager. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager working at the service.

At the last inspection the service was rated as ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of abuse. The registered manager checked the suitability of staff before they started working at the home. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs.

Risks associated with people’s care were identified and confirmed in risk assessments which guided staff on how to manage them to keep people safe.

Medicines were stored safely and there was an electronic medicine system to help ensure people received their medicines as prescribed. However, it was sometimes not clear creams prescribed for people were applied to the frequency required.

Staff completed ongoing training to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to care for people effectively. The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. People had a choice of meals and drinks, and their nutritional needs were assessed to ensure people were supported to eat and drink if required. People had access to healthcare services when their health needs changed.

People had care plans detailing their needs. It was not always clear that instructions in care plans were followed or that people preferences were met consistently.

Staff knew people well and most of the time involved them in decisions about their care. People were encouraged to maintain relationships with people that were important to them. Some people were supported with their interests and people had access to social activities on a regular basis. Staff understood and maintained people’s privacy and dignity.

People and relatives felt that concerns they had raised had been dealt with effectively. They spoke positively of staff and the management of the home. The provider had a range of quality monitoring systems in place to ensure people experienced the quality of care and services they would expect.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

People generally looked well cared for and we did not observe any concerns in relation to staffing levels. We observed staff to be friendly and approachable towards people. People told us: 'The staff make it, they are as good as gold, I think they are angels.' 'They are generally a good crowd and I can talk to them and they listen.'

People told us they were satisfied with the food provided. Some people had lost weight. We saw action had been taken to monitor these people and further actions were in the process of being taken to help improve people's nutritional intake.

People told us if they had any concerns or complaints they felt comfortable to raise these with staff without fear of reprisals. There were systems in place for any allegations of abuse to be appropriately reported and staff had completed training so that they knew how to recognise abuse.

We saw that during the day some people watched television and some people read the newspaper. There were also some people joining in social activities provided by staff.

Staff were knowledgeable about people's preferences and lifestyle choices. We saw that they were kind and supportive towards people. People that we spoke with about the staff told us: 'They are alright', they do their best.' 'They are good girls, they are very good, I don't know how they keep it up.'

We saw that people had care plans in place detailing their care needs. These contained instructions to staff on what support they needed to provide. We saw staff appropriately supporting people including administering their medicines. We also saw that some people were encouraged to maintain their independence.

Where there were risks associated with people's health, risk assessments had been completed. We saw that advice from health professionals had been sought in relation to these risks.

People and their visitors had been given the opportunity to give their views of the home through satisfaction surveys.