Archived: Wansbeck Care Home

Updated 4 February 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one 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

Wansbeck Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

A new manager was in post. She became registered with the Care Quality Commission immediately after our inspection. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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 also contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people, eight relatives, the head of operational quality, the regional manager, the manager, a manager from the provider’s nearby care home, the deputy manager, one senior care worker, three care workers, the activities coordinator, the maintenance man, two members of the domestic team and the laundry assistant.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the manager to validate the evidence found. The manager sent us further information for us to review. In addition, three relatives contacted us by email to provide further feedback about the home.

Updated 4 February 2020

About the service

Wansbeck Care Home provides personal care and accommodation for up to 40 older people, some of whom have a dementia related condition. There were 28 people living at the home at the time of the inspection. The home was divided into four smaller ‘houses.’ Pine Tree and River Bank, the all-male house, were located on the ground floor. Sea View and Meadow View, the house for people who had a more advanced dementia related condition were situated on the first floor.

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

People were treated with kindness. People spoke positively about the caring nature of staff. One person told us, “They are kind and nice. They couldn’t be any nicer.”

Work was ongoing to increase the visibility of staff. People and relatives told us that more staff would be appreciated. Whilst we saw that people’s needs were being met by the number of staff on duty, staff were busy and due to the lay out of the home staff were not always visible. We have made a recommendation about this.

There were systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about the action they would take if abuse were suspected. Medicines were managed safely.

A redecoration and refurbishment plan was in place which had commenced at the time of our inspection.

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.

People had a choice and access to sufficient food and drink. People were supported to access a range of healthcare professionals to ensure they remained healthy.

People’s social needs were met. People were supported to maintain their hobbies both within and outside of the home.

The home had been through a period of change and uncertainty which had affected the culture and morale. Several relatives told us that communication needed to improve and timely action had not always been taken when issues had been raised. A new manager was in post. Most relatives told us that action was now being taken and communication was improving since the new manager had started. They said however, that these improvements needed to be sustained.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 22 November 2018). We identified four breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 which related to safe care and treatment, the need for consent, good governance and staffing. We also identified a breach of the Care Quality Commission Registration Regulations 2009 Notifications of other incidents.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulations. However, further improvements were required in the well-led question.

This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection programme.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.