Wolston Grange

Updated 30 December 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspectors and 1 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.

Service and service type

Wolston Grange is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Wolston Grange is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We looked at the information we had received from relatives and people who used the service. We asked the local authority for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities, together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who use the service and monitoring its quality. We reviewed information from Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 8 people to get their experiences about the quality of care received. We spoke with 6 members of care staff that included senior staff, care staff, a member of kitchen staff and a maintenance person. We also spoke with the registered manager and a director who was also the owner of the service.

We reviewed a range of records. These included samples of 9 people's care records, as well as associated records that included daily report logs, food and fluid records and medicine administration records. We reviewed 2 staff recruitment files and the providers quality assurance systems and processes.

Updated 30 December 2023

About the service

Wolston Grange is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 39 people who may have a diagnosis of dementia. The service is made up of 3 units, the main house is a two-storey building and provides accommodation for older people with dementia. The Lodge is adjoined to the main house and is a two-storey building which provides accommodation for up to 12 adults with dementia. The Barns is a separate building within the grounds of the main house, which provides accommodation for up to 5 people with dementia.

At the time of our inspection visit there were 34 people receiving care across the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

At our last inspection, we found improvements were required around managing people’s risks and risks to support safe medicines management, quality of record keeping and quality assurance processes. At this inspection, we found enough improvements had been made and people were pleased with the levels of care they received. The provider was no longer in breach of the regulations.

Improvements to the management of the home by the provider and registered manager led to a service which supported good outcomes for people. The provider's quality assurance systems and processes were regular, structured and they now identified where actions were taken. Evidence and action plans showed improvement actions had been taken.

The provider had timescales to make improvements to the fire safety of the home. The provider told us they kept the fire authority updated of their timescales and actions.

We found there was a positive culture, which focused on meeting people’s needs. People spoke positively about the service and staff team. People’s views and feedback was sought on the service they received and acted upon through regular meetings and daily interactions.

People were supported to receive their medicines safely, however some improvements to the recording of certain medicines needed to be made. Following our visit, the registered manager had taken those actions. Staff received training and they had their medicine competency assessed, to ensure they followed correct procedures.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and staff were kind and attentive. People’s safety and care needs were identified, their care was assessed and planned, and their needs were met.

People’s individual preferences and lifestyle choices were respected, whilst their safety needs were balanced through risk interventions. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and were confident the provider would take action to protect people, should this be required. Staff were also confident to refer to other agencies to keep people protected. People told us they felt safe at Wolston Grange.

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’s freedom was not unnecessarily restricted, and people were not physically restrained.

People lived in a safe, clean and maintained environment. Regular checks ensured the environment was safe. Improvements to fire safety through better signage and the updating of fire doors was being managed by the provider.

People were encouraged to personalise their rooms and some people were involved in decorating their own and communal rooms. Staff worked with people, relatives and health and social care professionals to maintain people’s overall health and wellbeing.

The provider had safe recruitment systems to ensure staff were suitable to look after people. There were enough staff on duty to support and meet people’s needs. People were involved in how their care was received and how they lived their day, such as what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go.

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 requires improvement overall (published 12 January 2023). The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

Why we inspected

When we last inspected Wolston Grange on 15 September 2022, breaches of legal requirements were found. This inspection checked whether they were now meeting the legal requirements. We found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well Led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wolston Grange on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.