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Wixams Retirement Village

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Bedford Road, off the Causeway, Wixams, Bedford, MK42 6EA (01234) 981000

Provided and run by:
The ExtraCare Charitable Trust

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 27 January 2021

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Wixams Retirement Village provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission at the time of inspection. The provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the management team are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 22 December 2020 and ended on 8 January 2021. We visited the service location on 7 January 2021.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We looked at all the information we hold about the service including notifications. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the regional operational manager, care manager, interim village manager, care lead, activities co-ordinator, wellbeing advisor, fitness instructor, senior care workers and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and four medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 27 January 2021

About the service

Wixams Retirement Village provides care and support to people living in specialist 'extra care' housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements.

Not everyone using Wixams Retirement Village received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care.This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

The village scheme consists of 230 apartments. At the time of this inspection 28 people using the service were receiving a regulated care service.

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

People spoke positively about the care they received and told us they would recommend the service to others. One person said, “We think they (staff) are reliable and they genuinely care." Another person said, “It is a good place and the care is good. The carers are kind and thoughtful."

People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm and risks were managed safely.

Thorough care plans and risk assessments were completed by staff and were tailored to the individual’s needs. People and relatives told us they were involved in this process and their care plans were regularly reviewed.

Staff completed training and competency checks and were knowledgeable in their roles.

Systems were in place to manage infection control. Staff were provided with an adequate supply of face masks, gloves and aprons.

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.

Staff encouraged people to maintain their interests and hobbies. Wellbeing advisors and activity co-ordinators worked enthusiastically to provide a range of activities and made these available to all.

The manager and staff took pride in their work and were passionate in working with people to achieve good outcomes.

People felt confident in raising complaints and concerns if necessary.

People and staff were positive about the management and felt they were approachable.

Quality assurance audits were completed, and plans implemented where relevant to drive change and improvements.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 11 June 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

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.