Archived: Weston Villa

About the service

Weston Villa is a residential care home providing personal care to eight people in two separate buildings at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to eight people.

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

Right support

• Improvements were required to ensure people could develop, flourish and pursue their interests.

• Improvements in medicines management were needed so people could be supported with their medicines safely and in the way they preferred.

• Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support but not always in a timely manner.

• A programme of re-decoration was underway to improve the cleanliness and homeliness of the service.

Right care

• Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Refresher training and competency checks in some areas were being undertaken to ensure staff were up to date with the skills and knowledge required to provide optimal care and support.

• Staff and people assessed the risks people might face. Improvements were required to ensure people always received safe care and treatment. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

• Aspects of infection prevention and control required strengthening to ensure people always received the right care to keep them safe.

• The staff team worked together to ensure people received kind and compassionate care. Turnover in the staff team meant some staff did not yet know people well.

Right culture

• People and those important to them, including relatives and social care professionals, were involved in planning their care but communication was not always effective.

• The previous manager had not always promoted an open and person-centred culture for people living in the service. The staff team were keen to re-establish good practice for the benefit of people and those important to them.

• The interim manager was working hard to stabilise the service and staff team, and implement improvements following an action plan.

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 (published 2 June 2021).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of ‘Right support right care right culture’.

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.

We found some concerns about infection prevention and control practice so broadened the inspection to look at the key questions Safe and Well-Led.

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.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to the governance arrangements in the service, and people receiving safe care and treatment.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The care home accommodates people across two separate buildings. Weston Villa has four self-contained flats which accommodates four individuals, and the second building known as Henson Court comprises of a communal lounge, kitchen and sensory room with individual bedrooms with en-suite facilities, this also accommodates four people. Weston Villa and Henson Court are registered as one service; in the report we will talk about the service as one location.

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

Risks in the environment were not consistently well monitored.

Medicines were mostly managed safely with some improvements required to monitor storage.

The management team had experienced some changes and the provider had not consistently maintained oversight of the safety and quality of the service. Staff training required improvements to ensure it was completed in a timely manner and regular updates took place. We have recommended that the manager and provider keep the rotas under review to ensure an appropriate skill mix across shifts whilst training and updates of training continue.

Staff supervision and appraisal had been inconsistent, but staff felt well supported and able to approach the management team with ideas or concerns, and staff morale was described as good. Some staff inductions had been restarted to ensure good support.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs.

People were protected from infection through infection control procedures. Staff had adequate supplies of personal protective equipment [PPE] and knew what PPE to use in specific circumstances. Staff were involved in regular testing for COVID-19.

People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet.

The staff and management team worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure timely access to services and promote smooth transition between services. People and their family were considered partners in their care experience and care was person centred and inclusive.

Individualised risk assessments were completed and measures in place to mitigate risk. Lessons had been learned when things had gone wrong.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff were recruited safely and were kind caring and respectful of people’s privacy and dignity.

A complaints procedure was in place. Complaints were monitored by the provider and actioned appropriately.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

The home was situated in a residential area, with no signs from the exterior that it was a care home. People were supported to be as independent as possible and encouraged and supported to make their own decisions and choices. People had either private rooms or flats and staff were respectful of people’s privacy and dignity. People were supported with job applications and empowered to challenge legal restrictions if they wished to. `

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

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

Rating at last inspection. This was the first inspection for this service.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines, infection control, safeguarding and abuse. As a result, we undertook a comprehensive inspection.

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.

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.