About the serviceWillows Lodge Care Home provides accommodation, personal care and nursing care for up to 70 older people, people living with dementia and those who require nursing and palliative care. The service consists of 3 units: Poppy Unit for people living with dementia, Buttercup Unit for people who require nursing and palliative care and Rose Unit for people who require residential care. At the time of the inspection there were 63 people living at the service.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
People's care was not always delivered safely. Information relating to people's individual risks was not always recorded, up-to-date or did not provide enough assurance that people were safe.
Suitable arrangements were not in place to ensure the proper and safe use of medicines. The staffing levels and the deployment of staff was not suitable to meet people's care and support needs. Training was not always up to date.
People were not protected by the prevention and control of infection. Staff did not always receive adequate training and supervision.
People and their relatives told us they were treated with care and kindness. However, the care provided was not always person-centred.
Not all care plans contained enough information to ensure staff knew how to deliver appropriate person-centred care. People were not supported or enabled to take part in regular social activities that met their needs.
Staff were aware of who they were accountable to and understood their roles and responsibilities in ensuring people's needs were met. The registered manager had good links with a number of health and social care professionals and this helped to ensure people's needs were met.
Management and staff treated people with kindness and compassion. Positive relationships had developed between people and staff. However, people's experiences of care varied considerably.
The new management structure was committed to improving the service and creating a positive and inclusive culture at the service.
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 January 2020)
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.
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 based on
the findings of this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements.
Enforcement and recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing, nutritional and hydration needs and good governance at this inspection and made a recommendation in relation to the Mental Capacity Act and care plans and risk assessments.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Full information about CQC's regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we inspect next.