About the service Willow Grange Nursing Home is a care home providing nursing and/or personal care to 33 people aged 45 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can accommodate and support up to 44 people in a single adapted three-storey building. The service supports people living with a range of care needs, including those associated with dementia, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, mental ill health, learning disabilities, sensory impairment and complex health conditions, such as diabetes.
People’s experience of using this service
At the service’s last inspection, before the it was registered with the current provider they were rated requires improvement overall and there were multiple breaches of regulations in relation staff working practices, their training and deployment in the care home, activities and how quality monitoring systems were operated. t this inspection we found the provider had made enough improvements to ensure they were not in breach of regulations. This was because we found staff treated people with dignity and respect, people received personalised care and support from suitably trained and supported staff who were familiar with people’s individual needs and wishes, people had more opportunities to choose to participate in meaningful social activities, and the providers new and existing quality monitoring systems were more effectively operated.
Similarly, most people using the service and their relatives told us the care home had significantly improved in the last six months under the leadership of the newly registered manager and her management team. A quote we received from a relative summed up how most people felt about the service - “The care has definitely got better. The new manager has done a great job employing lots of new nurses who know how to look after my [family member]. She [registered manager] is far more open to new ideas and approachable compared to the previous one.”
People, their relatives and staff all spoke positively about the leadership approach of the newly registered manager. All the service’s new managers demonstrated a good understanding of the importance of quality monitoring and analysing and learning lessons when things went wrong in order to continuously improve the care home. The managers involved people and staff in the running of the care home. They also worked in close partnership with community professionals and groups.
However, the provider will still need to demonstrate they can continue to effectively operate their new and existing quality monitoring and governance systems. We need to see the improvements described above can be sustained over a much longer period of time.
Progress made by the provider to continually improve the service will be assessed at their next inspection.
Since our last inspection the services main communal areas had all been repainted and furbished with new furniture, light fittings, flooring and soft furnishings.
However, the service still lacked any easy to understand pictorial signage, colour contrasting doors and walls and memory boxes to make the environment more suitable for people living with dementia. The provider had an action plan to display easy to understand pictorial signage and memory boxes near people’s bedrooms.
Progress made by the provider to achieve these stated aims will also be assessed at the service’s next inspection.
People were cared for by staff who knew how to keep them safe and protect them from avoidable harm. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Staff continued to undergo all the relevant pre-employment checks to ensure their suitability and fitness for the role. The premises were clean and staff followed relevant national guidelines regarding the prevention and control of infection.
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. People were offered well-balanced meals that meet their dietary needs and wishes, and were supported to stay healthy and well.
People were treated equally and had their human rights and diversity respected. People had their privacy respected. People were encouraged to make decisions about the care and support they received. People were supported to be as independent as they could and wanted to be.
People had their own individualised care plan for staff to follow. People’s communication needs and preferences continued to be respected and met. People were aware of the providers’ complaints policy and how to raise any concerns or complaints they may have. When people were nearing the end of their life, they continued to receive compassionate and supportive palliative care.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at the last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 September 2018). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed. This was the first rating under the new provider since its registration in October 2018.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on our methodology, which states services must be inspected within 12 months of being reregistered with us.
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.