Archived: White Gables Care Home

Updated 11 September 2015

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 was 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.

We visited the service on 12 August 2015 and the inspection was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using services or caring for someone who requires this type of service.

Before the inspection the registered provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The registered provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report.

During our inspection we spoke with ten people who lived in the service and six visiting relatives. We spoke with the registered manager and two registered nurses. In addition, we spoke with two members of care staff, the chef and a healthcare professional who was visiting the service.

We observed care and support in communal areas and looked at the care plans of five people and at a range of records related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included staff training information, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints. We also looked at the quality assurance audits that the registered manager completed which monitored and assessed the quality of the service provided.

We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications, which are events which have happened in the service that the registered provider is required to tell us about, and information that had been sent to us by other agencies.

We asked the local authority, who commissioned services from the registered provider for information in order to get their view on the quality of care provided by the service. In addition, we contacted two health or social care professionals and asked them for their feedback on the care that people received at the service.

Updated 11 September 2015

This was an unannounced inspection carried out on 12 August 2015. White Gables Care Home provides accommodation for up to 20 people who require residential or nursing care and also supports people living with dementia. There were 19 people living in the service when we carried out our inspection.

At the time of our inspection the service had 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how a provider applies the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way. This is usually to protect themselves. At the time of our inspection there was one person who was subject to an active DoLS authorisation.

Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns so that people were kept safe from harm and background checks had been completed before new staff were appointed. Staff helped people to avoid having accidents. There were arrangements in place for ordering, storing, administering and disposing of medicines.

Staff had been supported to assist people in the right way. People had been helped to eat and drink enough to stay well. We found that people were provided with a choice of meals. When necessary, people were given extra help to make sure that they had enough to eat and drink. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals when they required specialist help.

Staff understood people’s needs, wishes and preferences and they had been trained to provide effective and safe care which met people’s individual needs. People were treated with kindness, compassion and respect.

People were able to see their friends and families when they wanted. There were no restrictions on when people could visit the service. Visitors were made welcome by the staff in the service. People and their relatives had been consulted about the care they wanted to be provided. Staff knew the people they supported and the choices they made about their care and people were supported to pursue their hobbies and interests.

There were systems in place for handling and resolving complaints. People and their relatives knew how to raise a concern. The service was run in an open and inclusive way that encouraged staff to speak out if they had any concerns. The registered manager regularly assessed and monitored the quality of the service provided for people. The service had established links with local community groups which benefited people who lived in the service.