Wendleberrie House

Updated 9 April 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 16 March 2021 and was unannounced.

Updated 9 April 2021

This inspection took place on 8 January 2019 and was unannounced.

Wendleberrie House 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.

Wendleberrie House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care, without nursing care for up to 15 older people, including people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, 10 people were using the service.

The registered provider was also the registered manager for the service. 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.

At our last inspection in February 2018, the service was rated ‘Requires Improvement’. At this inspection we found the provider was in the process of implementing more robust records management and quality audit systems. Some of the systems had recently been introduced and needed time to be embedded into practice. Therefore at this inspection we have rated ‘Well-Led’ as ‘Requires Improvement’ and the overall rating for the service has improved to ‘Good’.

People were protected from harm, the staff understood how to keep people safe and how to report any concerns regarding people’s safety or welfare. The service safely supported people with the administration of medicines. Safe recruitment procedures were generally carried out and there was sufficient staff available to meet the current needs of the people using the service.

Risk assessments addressed the potential risks present for each person and monitoring records were used to manage the risks. These were also used to recognise when specialist advice from other healthcare professionals needed to be sought in response to people’s changing needs.

Systems were in place to question accidents and incidents to learn from them and mitigate the risk of any repeat incidents. The provider had introduced systems to analyse these to identify areas for further improvement and to mitigate further risks.

The premises were clean and hygienic, and people and staff were protected from the risks of infections. Checks to the safety of the environmental took place and records were maintained on the checks.

People were provided with a choice of nutritious meals and people identified at risk of losing weight, or those with swallowing difficulties were referred to health professionals for specialist care and advice.

People’s needs were fully assessed before moving into the service, and people and relatives confirmed they were involved in the assessments. The service worked and communicated with other healthcare professionals, so that people received effective care and support when moving between different care services.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The staff were kind, compassionate, and friendly. People were encouraged to express their views and make choices. The staff knew the people who used the service well and had built trusting relationships. There was a policy on confidentiality and information about people was shared only on a need to know basis. People’s confidential information was stored appropriately.

People’s physical, emotional and spiritual, needs were met. People were supported at the end of their life to have a comfortable, dignified and pain-free death and where possible people were able to remain at the home.

The service looked at ways to make sure people had access to the information they needed in a way they could understand it; to comply with the Accessible Information Standards. The Accessible Information Standards is a framework put in place from August 2016 making it a legal requirement for all providers to ensure people with a disability or sensory loss can access and understand information they are given.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) had been notified of events and incidents that occurred in the service in accordance with our statutory notifications.

The provider had on display the rating from the last inspection both in the service and on their website. It is a legal requirement the latest CQC inspection report rating is displayed at the service where a rating has been given. This is so people, visitors and those seeking information about the service can be informed of our judgments.