Archived: Signature at Weybridge

Signature at Weybridge is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 110 people. The service provides support to older people who live with physical, health and dementia related care and support needs. At the time of our inspection there were 68 people living and receiving care in the home.

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

People told us they felt safe in the home and with staff. People could do things for themselves but also ask for help which was provided by staff in a timely way. Staff knew people well and supported them in a personalised way. Where people had specific health and care needs, staff knew how to support their safety and wellbeing.

People had individual care plans which were reviewed to address any changing needs. Where required, staff supported people to have their medicines safely and as prescribed, to maintain good nutrition and hydration and to enjoy doing what they liked. This included support to maintain relationships important to people and host visitors or to go out. People’s preference and wishes, including their life stories were known and respected by staff who used that information to provide more effective and responsive support.

People valued staff and found them caring and respectful. One person told us, “It’s very good living here. The people are chirpy and cheerful. It’s very, very good. The people are pleasant.” People and their representatives were involved in their care.

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 felt supported by the management and competent for their roles. There were enough staff to support people timely and new staff were recruited safely. The management team had clear and robust systems for monitoring quality and safety of people’s care and their home. Where improvements were identified, action was taken to address them.

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 under the previous provider was good, published on 6 April 2018. We had inspected the home but not rated it since the change in its registration. The last inspection was a part of CQC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and we were assured around how the home managed infection control and visiting arrangements (published 25 April 2022).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection due to the change of provider.

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.

Follow up

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

Sunrise of Weybridge is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 110 people. At the time of our inspection there were 67 people using the service. The home is a purpose built building spread over three floors with communal areas on each floor. One of the floors specialises in providing care to people living with dementia.

We found the following examples of good practice

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. There was a contingency plan in place to ensure cover of any staff shortages due to following isolation guidance or testing positive for COVID-19. Any agency staff that were used followed all policies and procedures in relation to testing and had full profiles for the registered manager to understand all vaccine statuses.

Staff completed daily lateral flow tests (LFT) which meant that any positive cases would be identified quickly and action could be taken to prevent infection spreading. People who lived at the home were also supported to access testing for COVID-19 and to have their COVID-19 vaccinations. If people contracted COVID-19, they were supported to self-isolate in their bedrooms. All completed tests were registered and monitored by the receptionist and management.

The provider had introduced measures to ensure visits were conducted in a safe way and in line with government guidance. Visitors were required to provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test and to complete a list of COVID-19 screening questions. Professionals visiting the home also had to demonstrate their COVID-19 vaccination status. Measures had been put in place to ensure people could have as much contact with their relatives as possible. A room had been created on the ground floor with patio access. This room had a glass wall dividing the room where people could speak to their relatives through a microphone, and the relatives could safely enter and exit through an external door. This also allowed people to see young relatives such as grandchildren.

People were protected from the spread of infection by enhanced cleaning that had been introduced at the location. This included regularly touched areas being cleaned and new cleaning rotas being introduced.

The premises were clean and hygienic. Since the beginning of the pandemic in addition to the cleaning standards of infection prevention and control (IPC) were audited more regularly. Staff had access to all the personal protective equipment (PPE) they needed and had attended training in both PPE use and IPC measures to be followed.

The management team had introduced a weekly communications bulletin to be sent to all relatives. They had identified relatives were concerned with the reduced contact with people. This bulletin contained updates for relatives of what was happening in the home and updates in changes to guidance and how the home were responding.