We carried out a review of the data available to us about Woodland Grove on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Woodland Grove, you can give feedback on this service.
Woodland Grove is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 72 people aged 65 and over, in one purpose-built accommodation set over three floors. At the time of the inspection 69 people were living in the service, this included people living with dementia.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us they were happy with the service. One person said, “All the care workers are lovely and look after us.” A relative told us, “It is a great care home.”
Care and treatment were person centred and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were cared for safely by staff who had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks had been completed. Staff had received appropriate training. There were systems in place to minimise the risk of infection and to learn lessons from accidents and incidents. Medicines were dispensed by staff who had received training to do so.
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.
The registered manager had good oversight of the service, they had encouraged a culture of learning and development. There were systems in place to monitor and review care and people's experience 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 rating at the last inspection was good (report published 24 December 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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodland Grove on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Woodland Grove is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 72 people aged 65 and over, in one purpose-built accommodation . At the time of the inspection 60 people were living in the service, this included people living with dementia.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Relatives told us they felt people living in the service were safe. Risks to people were assessed and monitored and staff were knowledgeable about how to protect people from the risk of harm.
Relatives spoke positively about the staff, management and culture of the service. We received some mixed feedback regarding how well the provider communicated with them; however, relatives told us they felt involved in people’s care and able to give feedback and raise concerns if necessary.
People received their medicines as prescribed and staff had clear information about how people liked to be supported. Staff were safely recruited, and people were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well.
Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and told us they knew how to minimise people’s risk of infection through safe infection prevention and control processes.
The provider had robust safety and quality monitoring processes in place to ensure they had clear oversight of the service. When incidents happened, the provider put measures in place to learn from these and to look at how they could improve 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 comprehensive inspection rating for this service was good (published 15 January 2019).
Why we inspected
We were made aware of a specific incident in 2019 where a person living in the service died. Following the incident, the provider had identified areas within the service to improve. We carried out a targeted inspection, published in October 2019, to review medicines management. We found no concerns with the management of medicines. This inspection was carried out to review the improvements the provider had made to ensure people received safe care and lessons had been learnt from the previous incident. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm.
Please see the safe and well-led sections of this report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodland Grove on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Woodland Grove is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to people aged 65 and over. The service can support up to 72 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Medicines were being managed safely in the home.
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 15 January 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Question of Safe only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Therefore, the overall rating for the service has not changed.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodland Grove on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Staff used innovative and individual ways of involving people and their family, friends, and the local community to meet people’s needs in a personalised and sensitive way. People received personalised care that responded to their needs. Staff were caring and responsive, and people consistently told us how they were treated with kindness, compassion and respect.
People received personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. People were respected as an individual, with their own social and cultural diversity, values and beliefs. Staff looked at people’s backgrounds and used this to enable and encourage people to maintain their interests and celebrate their lifetime achievements.
People benefitted from a service which went to great lengths to include, and encourage people to be socially engaged and stimulated. Arrangements for social activities was exceptional and personalised. One person said, “I do the keep fit and yoga. We get a sheet which says what’s happening each day. They are really good.”
Since the last inspection, people had been placed at the centre of the service had been consulted with in different ways. People and staff told us they felt respected, and listened to. One relative said, “I think the staff are fantastic. They treat [name] with dignity and respect. I have never had any issues with the staff.”
The service was at the heart of the local community with strong community links. There was a variety of different community groups regularly visiting. People were helped to join events in their community. Staff were motivated by and proud of the service. One staff member said, “I have been here for about four years now. I love my job.”
The provider had completely overhauled the management structure and had reviewed the roles and responsibilities within the organisation. The service was effectively managed and well led.
This met the characteristics of good, with outstanding elements in some areas.
More information is in the full report.
We carried out this unannounced inspection on the 25 January 2018. Breaches of legal requirements were found. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches. This is the first time the provider has been rated as requires improvement. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
Before the inspection, Essex County Council had notified us that a number of safeguarding alerts had been raised. These had identified a failure in the registered persons duty to raise serious concerns both to the local authority and with the Care Quality Commission. We undertook a comprehensive inspection in response to these concerns.
A registered manager was in post, but because of the nature of the concerns that had been raised; they had been suspended since October 2017. 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. In their absence, the provider employed a care consultancy company to assist them with the day to day running of the service. At the time of the inspection, the provider was working with the care consultancy company to review what remedial action needed to be made.
The registered personshad not had an oversight of the number of accidents or incidents that had occurred and they had not worked within the provider’s guidance. They did not use information about the service to look at how people’s safety could be improved.
The registered personshad failed in their duty to deal with complaints in an effective and responsive way. The provider had a range of audit systems in place, but the registered persons had not used these systems effectively. They did not use information to consider how they could continuously improve the service.
The service was not actively identifying the information and communication needs of people with a disability or sensory loss, and no one at the service had been trained in the accessible communication standards. We have recommended that the registered provider should consider how they identify people who have specific information or communication requirements.
Staff received an induction to prepare them for their role and additional training was provided to support their learning, but the registered persons had not always provided support to staff and supervision meetings had been sporadic. Appraisals had not been carried out.
Risks to people were assessed and management plans were in place to reduce the likelihood of harm, but these were not personalised.
Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People were supported to have choice and control of their lives. Care plans contained an assessment of people’s capacity but these were not specific. We observed staff supporting people in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People spoke positively about the service and told us they were listened to by staff that were kind and caring towards them. People could participate in meaningful activities.
There were adequate systems in place for the safe administration of medication and people received their medicines as prescribed.
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.