Holmwood Care Centre

Updated 1 July 2023

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an 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

Holmwood Care Centre 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. Holmwood Care Centre is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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 professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 8 people who lived at the home and 7 people’s relatives. We also spoke with the provider, the regional manager, clinical development group lead, deputy manager, administration manager, 3 registered nurses, the head chef, 1 senior carer and 3 care assistants. We looked at the care records for 5 people and multiple medicines records for people living in the home. We checked the care people received matched the information in their records. We looked at records relating to the management of the service, including audits and recruitment checks carried out within the service.

Updated 1 July 2023

About the service

Holmwood Care Centre is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 60 people. The service provides support to older people with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 45 people using the service.

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

Peoples medicines were not always stored safely and ‘as and when required ‘medicines were not always reviewed timely. Risks relating to topical creams and were not always assessed, and people were not always repositioned in line with their identified needs.

The providers audit systems were not always sufficient to provide oversight of the service delivery. A positive person-centred culture was promoted, and the registered manager promoted learning and development.

Staff were recruited safely, and the home followed IPC guidelines. Accidents and incidents were analysed, and learning was shared with the staff team. People and relatives told us people were cared for safely.

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.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (Published 01 April 2020).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about management of risks and people’s safety. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. 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 Holmwood Care Centre 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.