The White House Nursing Home

Updated 30 December 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by 1 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.

Service and service type

The White House Nursing Home 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. The White House Nursing Home is a care home with 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed the information we held about the service. This included any statutory notifications received. Statutory notifications are specific pieces of information about events, which the provider is required to send to us by law.

We sought feedback from the local authority contracts monitoring and safeguarding adults' teams and reviewed the information they provided. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. During the inspection we reviewed documentation, inspected the safety of the premises and carried out observations in communal areas.

We spoke with 1 person who used the service, 9 relatives, and 5 members of staff including the registered manager and 4 care staff. We reviewed the care records for 5 people, medicine records for 10 people and the recruitment records for 3 members of staff and 3 agency staff. We looked at a range of records. This included staffing rotas, training records, meeting minutes, policies and procedures, environmental safety and information relating to the governance of the service.

Updated 30 December 2022

About the service

The White House Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 36 people. The service provides support to people aged 65 years and over, some of whom are living with a dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service.

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

Relatives were positive about the care provided to people and told us many positive examples of how staff had helped their relatives. During the inspection we observed positive interactions between staff and people, which demonstrated the kind and caring attitude of the staff team.

Staff were positive about the registered manager and the changes that they had introduced since they started working at the service. Care plans and records were electronic, which allowed staff to easily review people's needs and update information in a timely way. There were detailed assessments in place to make sure people received the correct support.

Care records were accurately completed and reflected the current needs of the person. Relatives told us they were involved with reviews of people’s care needs and were updated regularly. Risks to people had been fully assessed and mitigated to help keep people safe. People's care plans were individual and included involvement from other healthcare professionals.

Staff received regular training and there were enough staff on duty to safely support people. Staff told us they were supported and could access advice/guidance at any time. The provider safely recruited new staff and agency staff.

Medicines were safely managed, and regular checks were in place to make sure people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff administering medicines had their competencies checked regularly.

People were supported to make choices around their care and day to day support. 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.

Staff wore PPE and followed government guidance in relation to COVID-19. The home was clean and suitably decorated.

The registered manager had an effective quality and assurance system in place which allowed them to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the care provided. People, relatives and staff were asked for feedback to help improve the care provided. Lessons learned from incidents were also used to improve the service provided.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 26 August 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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