Willow Court

Updated 21 October 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 carried out by one inspector

Service and service type

Willow Court 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. Willow Court 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. However, an interim manager was in place and a manager had been recruited and was due to start.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the interim manager and deputy manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records and medicine records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including fire records were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at accident and incident analysis and additional fire records were sent.

Updated 21 October 2022

About the service

Willow Court is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 11 people. The service provides support to people who have a learning disability or autism in one adapted building. On the day of the inspection 11 people were living at the service.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right 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. The service provided support in a safe and clean environment suitable for people's needs. People could make choices and personalise their living space. When necessary, significant adaptations were made to ensure the environment was safe and suitable for people.

Right Care:

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

People’s medicines were managed safely.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. Care and support plans were tailored to people's individual needs.

People were protected by the provider's recruitment processes as appropriate checks were completed; ensuring staff were suitable to work with people who used the service.

Risks to people's safety and wellbeing were well managed by staff and clearly recorded in people's support plans. We have made a recommendation about fire drills for night staff.

Right Culture:

Whilst there was not a registered manager in place the provider had put an interim manager in place until a new manager was due to start. The staff were positive about working at the service.

People were supported by staff to pursue their interests. People were encouraged to share their views and develop and improve the service. The quality of support provided was evaluated regularly.

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 03 July 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan following the last inspection, to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment. At this inspection improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

Why we inspected

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We received concerns in relation to fire safety. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

Follow up

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