Woodside Place

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

Safe – this means we looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good.

This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 78 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

When incidents or accidents occurred, there was evidence the registered manager carried out investigations and implemented measures to reduce the likelihood of recurrence. This information was shared with the staff team during handovers, daily huddles, team meetings and on the electronic care records.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services.

Before anyone moved into the service, members of the staff team carried out a pre-admission assessment. These assessments were carried out face to face and ensured the service could meet the person’s needs and were used to plan a positive transition to the service from their previous residence. Detailed assessments were also completed with people when they were planning to leave the service. For example, when they moved back to their home. Where required additional training was provided to staff to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to support the new person.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. Staff concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect.

People told us they felt safe living at the home, one person said, “I feel safe living here and if I didn’t, I know I could tell staff and they would do something to help.”

All staff had completed training in safeguarding for both adults and children, and this was refreshed on an annual basis. Staff were aware of the service’s safeguarding policy and procedures and where to access the policy if needed. During our assessment, staff were able to describe different types of abuse and explained how they would raise the concerns and who to.

Staff told us they would feel comfortable speaking to the management team about any concerns they may have. This was echoed by people and their relatives who felt confident raising concerns and trusted the management team to act on them.

Where safeguarding incidents had been identified, the registered manager had investigated the incident internally and documented actions taken. Records showed that safeguarding concerns were escalated without delay to relevant authorities, including the local safeguarding team and the Care Quality Commission.

Information about how to report safeguarding concerns was displayed around the home.

The provider always worked well with people to fully understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. Staff provided care that fully met people’s needs and was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

The registered Manager told us they and the staff team supported a culture of positive risk taking at the service and they enabled people to make their own choices and take risks that could improve their quality of life, whilst balancing safety and wellbeing. We saw multiple examples of where people were involved in positive risk taking, which was supported by robust risk assessments and guidelines which involved people, relatives, staff and medical professionals. Comprehensive assessments, specialist advice, and management protocols were implemented to enable people to exercise choice whilst reducing potential risks as far as possible. Some of these risks included people choosing to eat at risk and accessing the community independently. People told us that this had a positive impact on their wellbeing and independence.

One person told us about a recent trip to buy records, they said, “I really enjoyed it.” Staff told us about the work they had carried out with 2 people to organise a trip to Disney. The people told us they were excited to be going.

The provider had systems in place to identify, assess, and manage risks associated with people’s care and support and involved people in this process. Risk assessments were consistent and clear and the guidance that staff should take to mitigate risks was accurately recorded. There was specific, in date, risk assessments in people’s care plans, such as for moving and handling and medicines, which staff could readily access.

The provider was fully aware of all potential risks in the care environment and controlled them well. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.
The home consisted of 3 communities, each having communal spaces including lounges and dining rooms with kitchenettes.
Additionally, the service offered a variety of communal facilities including a prayer room, activities room with gym equipment for use during sessions with the occupational therapist and a large communal hub on the ground floor where regular activities such as a breakfast club and “posh coffee” sessions were held. This hub had a kitchen area with height adjustable worksurfaces and sinks to enable people in wheelchairs to use them and regular cooking and baking sessions were held. This meant people could socialise, entertain families and friends and learn new skills to increase their independence. One relative told us how they had family visiting and had asked if they could bring them to visit their relative for lunch. When they arrived, the hub had been set up as a restaurant for them.
Communal gardens were well maintained, accessible and had facilities such as a barbeque area.
When new people moved to the service with specific support needs, we saw that adaptations were made to the environment to ensure it met their needs. For example, one person’s bedroom had been fitted with a ceiling mounted hoist prior to them moving into the service.
People were encouraged to decorate their rooms the way they wished to. One person told us, “It makes it more personal to me.” People showed us their bedrooms with pride and one person told us how staff were helping them create a model to display in their room.
Arts and crafts that had been created by people were on display around the home. One person showed us a large model of a castle they were in the process of making.
There were completed records of fire safety, legionella checks, and electrical checks which were completed on a regular basis. Equipment used by people including wheelchairs, beds and hoisting equipment were also checked regularly.
 

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.

People were positive about the staff who supported them. One person said, “The staff here are brilliant, I love them, we are like a family.”

Staff were recruited safely and pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure members of staff were safe to work with vulnerable people. These included references and Disclosure and Barring Service checks (DBS). A DBS is a criminal record check to ensure the staff member is of good character to work with people at the service.

Staff had received online and face to face training to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to support people safely and effectively. Where people had specific needs and diagnosis's, staff had completed additional training.

People and staff told us that staffing levels were sufficient and the registered manager monitored them to ensure they remained at the correct level.

When new staff were recruited, people took part in the interview process and their opinion of a candidate was sought, recorded and used as part of the selection process.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly.
We observed the service to be clean and well maintained. The service had dedicated housekeeping staff which maintained the cleanliness of the home. The kitchen was well managed. The local authority’s Environmental Health Department had issued a food hygiene rating of 5 in March 2026. We observed staff wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and knew when and how to use this appropriately. Staff had received training in infection prevention and control (IPC).
The home was taking part in the Vivaldi Social Care Project. This is a project run by the NHS to reduce the number of infections in care homes and fewer hospital admissions from infections. The home supported people to make informed decisions about whether they wished to take part in this project. If consent was given the persons health is monitored anonymously to identify the extent of infections and outbreaks in people living in care and identify potential ways to reduce them.
 

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff involved people in planning, including when changes happened.

Medicines were stored safely in accordance with manufacturers guidelines and regular checks were made to ensure maximum storage temperatures were not exceeded.

People had plans to direct staff as to how and where they wished their medicines administered and we observed staff following these. The plans included information to guide staff when to administer medicines which had been prescribed when required.

Medicines were administered by staff who were trained to do so, and these staff were assessed as to their competency regularly.