Culwood House

Updated 28 March 2019

The inspection:

We carried out our inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. Our inspection checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

Our inspection was completed by an 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. Our expert by experience had knowledge about the support of older adults within care home settings.

Service and service type:

Culwood 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. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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:

Our inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). We checked records held by Companies House, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Food Standards Agency. We asked the service to complete a Provider Information Return. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with six people who used the service and two relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, three care workers and the chef. We reviewed six people’s care records, one staff personnel file, audits and other records related to the operation of the service.

We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. This was received and the information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 28 March 2019

About the service:

Culwood House is family owned and operated care home without nursing operated since 1988. The service is situated in a quiet residential area of Chesham. People who used the service are older adults, some of whom have a dementia diagnosis. This is the single location within the provider’s current registration. At the time of our inspection, 17 people lived at Culwood House.

People’s experience of using this service:

People received safe care. Any risks to them were assessed, documented and mitigated to protect people from avoidable harm. Staff were knowledgeable and skilled. They were competently able to provide the support people required. People and relatives described the service as caring and staff as kind. People’s care was specifically tailored to their individual needs. The service was well-managed. There was a positive workplace culture. The registered manager ensured audits and checks were completed regularly to ensure the safety and quality of people’s care.

Rating at last inspection:

At our last inspection the service was rated good. Our last report was published on 9 July 2016.

Why we inspected:

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates.

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