Willows Edge

Updated 23 January 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 coronavirus, 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 12 January 2021 and was announced.

Updated 23 January 2021

About the service

Willows Edge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to people aged 65 and over. The service can support up to 39 people and on the day of our inspection there were 30 people living at Willows Edge across three floors.

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

Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe from harm and people told us they felt safe. Care plans contained risk assessments and informed staff how to reduce the risk of harm to people. Safe recruitment procedures were followed and there was enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs. Medicines were managed safely. Incidents and accidents were reported, investigated and actions taken to prevent recurrence. The environment was clean, and staff followed infection prevention and control procedures.

People’s needs were assessed, and care plans were in place. People were cared for by staff who had been trained to carry out their roles and who were knowledgeable about the support people needed. People’s nutritional needs were assessed, and people were supported to have enough to eat and drink. People’s health needs were met. 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 spoke positively of the staff. Staff were kind and compassionate and interacted well with people. The atmosphere was relaxed, friendly and welcoming. People told us staff respected their privacy and dignity.

Care plans were person centred and included details of people’s preferences for how they wanted to be supported. Staff we spoke with were able to describe people’s care needs and preferences to us. People were supported to maintain relationships with family and friends. There was a range of activities for people to participate in if they wanted to. People’s feedback was sought. Complaints were reported, investigated and resolved appropriately

People we spoke with and healthcare professionals we spoke with all spoke highly of the service in general and the registered manager and the level of support and leadership they provided. There were quality assurance processes in place and an action plan for continual improvement.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 12 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.