Wisteria House Residential Home - Somerset

Updated 14 September 2022

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Wisteria House Residential Home – Somerset is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Wisteria House Residential Home – Somerset is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and safeguarding teams. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with and received feedback from 12 members of staff including the registered manager, senior care assistants, care assistants and domestic. We made general observations of care and interactions between people and staff. We emailed two professionals for feedback and spoke to one professional on the telephone.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 14 September 2022

About the service

Wisteria House Residential Home is a care home which is registered to provide personal care to 13 people. There were 13 older people living at the service at the time of inspection.

The home had a passenger lift, which makes access to the first floor easier. The house is an older style building set over two floors with some rooms less suitable for people with mobility difficulties. The management team considered the nature of the building when assessing people who wished to move in, to ensure their needs could be met.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The provider had improved oversight of the home since the last inspection. This included actions and procedures to reduce the risk of preventable harm, better protect people from the spread of infection and consistently robust checks when recruiting prospective staff.

Since our last inspection fire safety had improved and was well managed. There had also been significant improvements to the home environment and décor. This had improved safety and people’s quality of life.

People told us they felt safe living at Wisteria House Residential Home. This view was shared by relatives.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People, relatives and staff praised the registered manager about the improvements they had made to the home and their passionate approach in providing good quality care.

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the home which had a supportive and homely feel. Staff told us they felt valued. They were encouraged and supported to develop their practice and progress professionally.

Surveys were undertaken which gave people, relatives and staff the opportunity to say what the home did well and what they could do to improve. Feedback from the July 2022 survey was unanimously positive.

The home had developed and maintained good working relationships with GPs, district nurses, social workers and the local authority care home in-reach team. The registered manager recognised how the home could benefit from and contribute to the local community.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 17 June 2021).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider reviewed medicines management, staffing levels and the deployment of staff to ensure people's needs were met in a timely way. At this inspection we found medicines management had improved, staffing levels had increased and there was a full staff team to meet people’s needs.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 12 May 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, good governance and fit and proper person employed.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last comprehensive inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wisteria House Residential Home - Somerset on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.