The Willows Care Home

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and action was taken to mitigate the risk of harm to people following incidents and accidents. Systems were in place supported continuous learning. People’s risk assessments were followed to keep people safe.

Medication was stored and administered safely and the environment was clean and hygienic. There were sufficient numbers of suitably trained staff who had been employed using safe recruitment processes.

Quality monitoring systems in place were effective in ensuring the home was well maintained, although we found some areas of minor concern that the audits had not identified. Immediate action was taken to implement the improvements.

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

The last rating for this service was Good and the report published on 19 March 2018.

Why we inspected

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

At our last inspection on 1 March 2016 we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People continued to receive safe care. People were safe and individual risks to people were considered and reviewed when needed. There were safeguarding procedures in place and when needed these were followed to ensure people were protected from potential harm. There were enough staff available to offer support to people and medicines were managed in a safe way. Infection control procedures were in place and followed. There were systems in place to ensure lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

People continued to receive effective care. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People enjoyed the food that was available and were offered a choice. Staff were supported and trained to ensure that they had the skills to support people effectively, in line with current best practice. When needed people received support from health professionals. The home was adapted and decorated to meet people’s individual needs.

People continued to be supported in a caring way. People were supported in a kind and caring way by staff they were happy with. People’s privacy and dignity was promoted and people continued to be offered choices.

People continued to receive responsive care. People received care that was responsive to their needs and preferences. People had the opportunity to participate in activities they enjoyed. Complaint procedures were in place and followed when needed.

The service remained well led. Quality assurance systems were in place to identify where improvements could be made and when needed these changes were made. There was a registered manager in place who notified us of significant events that occurred within the home. Feedback was sought from people and their relatives and this was used to bring about changes.

The service was registered to provide personal care for up to 28 people. At the time of our inspection 26 people were using the service.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

People told us they felt safe and staff knew how to recognise and report potential abuse. We found that risks to people were managed in a safe way and when people needed specialist equipment this was provided and maintained for them. There were safe systems in place to manage medicines.

People told us they enjoyed the food and were offered a choice. People and relatives said they were involved with reviewing their care and when needed people had access to health professionals. People told us staff knew them well and the staff were provided with an induction and training that helped them to support people. We found there were enough staff available to meet people’s needs

People’s privacy and dignity was promoted and they were treated in a caring way. People were encouraged to make choices about their day. They told us they were offered the opportunity to participate in activities and pastimes they enjoyed.

When people were unable to consent mental capacity assessments had been completed. The provider had considered when people were being restricted and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) authorisations were in place. Staff knew their roles and how to protect people with this.

Staff felt listened to and were able to raise concerns. The provider used feedback from people and relatives to bring about changes. Quality monitoring checks were completed to make improvements to the service.