Inspection Report on Woodcroft Care Home Ltd Woodcroft Care Home 216 Abergele Road Old Colwyn Colwyn Bay LL29 8AS Date Inspection Completed 12/12/2019 Welsh Government © Crown copyright 2019. You may use and re-use the information featured in this publication (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License. You can view the Open Government License, on the National Archives website or you can write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] You must reproduce our material accurately and not use it in a misleading context. Description of the service Woodcroft Care Home is situated in Old Colwyn and provides care and accommodation for up to 22 people aged 65 and over, living with dementia. The service provider is Woodcroft Care Home Limited. Andrew Snook is the responsible individual (RI) overseeing the service. The manager is registered with Social Care Wales. Summary of our findings 1. Overall assessment The care and support provided at Woodcroft Care Home is good. People are treated with warmth and kindness from a dedicated management and staff team, who have a good understanding of their needs, and what is important to them. The service has sound management structure in place to oversee and monitor the service to ensure that it operates safely and efficiently for the people receiving care and support. 2. Improvements The home was recently re-registered under the new Regulation and Inspection of Social Care Wales Act 2016 (RISCA) and this was their first inspection under the new legislation. Any improvements will be considered as part of the next inspection. 3. Requirements and recommendations Section five of this reports sets out recommendations to improve the service. These include updating the statement of purpose (SOP), personal plans and risk assessments, staff supervision, RI three monthly visits and quality care review. Page 1 1. Well-being Our findings People are treated with dignity and respect. We observed staff interact with individuals in a sensitive and kind manner. Staff ensured that people and their relatives/representatives were listened to and communicated with, in a courteous manner. People’s care and support needs were the focus of staff’s attention with staff being able to use distraction techniques to de-escalate challenging situations. The people we spoke with told us they felt “safe” in the home and the relatives we spoke with praised the service. Comments included “care is person centred and dementia friendly”, “staff and management really do go the extra mile” and “it’s like no other care home I have ever been in, the staff are very welcoming. The trust is there”. The staff we spoke with were happy working at the service and described the home as an “extended family”. People have positive relationships with staff, which enhances their well-being. The service supports people with their physical, mental and emotional well-being; however, improvements are required to ensure everyone has an initial personal plan before they begin to receive care and support. Staff had access to person centred personal plans, which provided information about people’s routines, personal preferences and care and support needs. People have opportunities to be physically and mentally engaged by staff who are well trained and feel supported in their roles. There are arrangements for ongoing cycle of quality assurance to seek the views of people receiving a service, their relatives/representatives and external professionals, on all aspects of the home. Overall, people receive the right care and support but further consistency is required to ensure staff have access to an initial personal plan before care and support is provided to new admissions. The service protects people from poor or neglectful practices. We reviewed the latest safeguarding policy and procedure, which was aligned to current legislation, national guidance and local adult safeguarding procedures. A whistle blowing policy and procedure was available and provided information on the procedures for raising a concern, the safeguards in place for staff who raise a concern and how concerns will be investigated. Discussions with staff and training documentation evidenced staff had completed safeguarding training and had access to an annual refresher. The staff we spoke with had sound knowledge of the safeguarding and whistle blowing policy and procedures and were confident in raising any concerns with senior staff or the management team. People are safe and protected from abuse and neglect. People live in safe and suitable accommodation. A visitor’s book was located within the front reception to ensure records were kept of all persons entering the building. We were required to present our identification card and sign in on arrival and on departure. The Page 2 service was well maintained and benefits from an ongoing maintenance program. We saw visual aids such as signage and pictures were displayed around the home to help orientate people to minimise confusion. People live in a dementia friendly service. Page 3 2. Care and Support Our findings Overall, staff have access to personal plans. We reviewed three care files and saw evidence that the service had completed enquiry forms and pre-assessment documentation prior to people moving into the home. Each file contained personal plans, which were person centred and included clear and constructive guide for staff to follow about the individual, their care and support needs and the outcomes they would like to achieve. However, it was noted that some personal plans were in need of updating and a person who was admitted to the home on the 11 November 2019 did not have fully completed personal plans. It was also noted that national risk assessments were not always in use such as falls risk assessments. This was discussed with the manager who assured us it would be addressed and that they were currently working alongside an external health professional to complete the new risk assessments. The staff we spoke with were satisfied with the volume of information available to them and we saw staff delivering care and support in line with people’s personal plans and preferred routines. We conclude people’s well-being is promoted but further consistency is needed around care documentation and risk assessments. The service has systems in place to ensure management and staff have clear oversight of people’s health and welfare. We viewed the dining menus and saw they offered healthy meal choices, which were freshly prepared by the in-house cook. The people we spoke with and relatives/representatives praised the food that was served. Special dining events were also held such as Valentine’s Day, St Patricks Day and Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant (St David’s Day), Easter, Mothers Day and Father’s Day. Personal plans contained specific information about individual health conditions. We saw people were assisted to access additional services from health and allied health professionals. Referrals were seen to be made in a timely manner with clear documentation kept of all correspondence to provide a clear health record for the individual. Medication administration records we viewed showed that people received their medication as prescribed from trained and competent staff. We saw effective systems were in place to ensure oversight and audit of medicines management. People are supported to access healthcare and other services to maintain their ongoing health and well-being. People have opportunities to take part in activities. We were told by staff that people have the opportunity to engage in meaningful activities should they want to. Activities included ball games, quizzes, arts and crafts and dominos. People also completed daily living activities such as setting the tables ready for lunch, which we observed during our inspection. The service had its own minibus, which meant people living in the home could have trips out. During the warmer months, the home held a summer BBQ with live music. Page 4 We saw photos from this event, which contained photos of people laughing and dancing with their families/representatives, staff, manager and the RI. On the second visit, a choir had visited the service, which was very personal to a person living in the home. The finishing touches were also being put in place for the home’s annual Christmas Party which was being held at the service. We conclude people are as active as they can be and have opportunities to be involved in activities. Page 5 3. Environment Our findings Care and support is provided in a warm and welcoming environment. We toured the building and noted the cleanliness of the home and people had sufficient space to spend time individually and communally. The environment included features to stimulate people’s memory and senses, for example, memory boxes, and local and past decade’s pictures. The memory boxes were located outside each bedroom, which can help stimulate memories and support people with communication. A person we spoke with could identify their bedroom to us and spent time reminiscing about the photos in their memory box. We viewed 10 bedrooms all of which contained good natural light and were personalised to varying degrees. We saw the up-stairs hallway was currently being refurbished in order to maintain high standards. It was noted that the new hallway gave a sense of walking down a street rather than an ordinary hallway. The bedroom doors looked like front doors and were painted in different colours. The bathrooms within the home were clearly identified and included the same clear signage. The downstairs bathroom had been refurbished and contained a sensory ceiling to aid relaxation and calmness. The upstairs bathroom was also undergoing the same refurbishment.