15 June 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Homewood is a residential care home that provides personal care to up to 50 older people. At the time of our inspection, 32 people were living at the home. There were three floors but at the time of our inspection, the third floor was unoccupied. People resided over two floors known as ‘Elm’ and ‘Oak’.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Prior to our inspection, we received concerns about ineffective safeguarding procedures at the home. We found no evidence to substantiate this concern. Each person we spoke with felt protected people from the risk of abuse. Staff were trained in safeguarding adults and understood their responsibilities to identify and report any concerns.
There were enough suitably skilled staff to provide safe and effective care. Staff responded to people’s needs in a timely way.
Risks to people's health and wellbeing had been identified and assessed. Risk management plans informed staff how to support people safely and mitigate those identified risks. People’s medicines were ordered, received, securely stored, managed and disposed of safely. People were supported to have their medicines as prescribed. The home was clean, tidy and staff followed good infection prevention and control processes.
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.
Since our last inspection, systems and processes had been improved to ensure the quality of service was continuously monitored. A range of audits were in place which were effective in identifying where improvements were needed. Where any issues had been identified, these were added to a continuous improvement service plan to enable the registered manager to monitor the progress of actions and when these actions had been completed.
People and relatives told us the home was well-led. There was a relaxed atmosphere within the home where people were seen to be laughing and smiling. Staff were present, and supported people in a positive and friendly manner in line with the providers values.
People and relatives told us they had opportunities to provide feedback about the service. The registered manager was visible and people had daily opportunities to speak to them and raise concerns or suggestions
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 good (published 1 January 2020).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about effective safeguarding practices. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe section of this full report.
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.
The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.