Archived: Wynyard Woods

Updated 16 February 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 13 January and was unannounced. This meant that the service was not expecting us. The inspection team consisted of two Adult Social Care inspectors and an expert by experience that had a professional background in supporting older people.

At the inspection we spoke with 10 people who used the service, three relatives, the registered manager, the deputy manager, care staff, kitchen staff and domestic staff. During the inspection we were able to speak with visiting professionals including; A GP and a medicine auditor from the local clinical commissioning group.

Before we visited the service we checked the information we held about this location and the service provider, for example we looked at the inspection history, safeguarding notifications and complaints. We also contacted professionals involved in caring for people who used the service; including; the local authority commissioners.

Prior to the inspection we contacted the local Healthwatch who is the local consumer champion for health and social care services. They gave consumers a voice by collecting their views, concerns and compliments through their engagement work.

During our inspection we observed how the staff interacted with people who used the service and with each other. We spent time watching what was going on in the service to see whether people had positive experiences. This included looking at the support that was given by the staff, by observing practices and interactions between staff and people who used the service.

We also reviewed records including; five staff recruitment files, medication records, safety certificates, five care plans and records, five staff training records and other records relating to the management of the service such as audits, surveys, minutes of meetings and policies.

Updated 16 February 2017

The inspection took place on 13 January 2017. The inspection was unannounced.

Wynyard Woods is a residential care home based in Wynyard, County Durham. The home provides personal care for up to 50 older people and people with dementia. It is situated close to the village of Sedgefield, close to transport links. On the day of our inspection there were 46 people using the service.

The home had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are registered persons. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The atmosphere was homely with a feel that was warm and welcoming.

Without exception we saw staff interacting with people in a person centred and caring way. We spent time observing the support that took place in the service. We saw that people were always respected by staff and treated with kindness. We saw staff being considerate and communicating with people well.

We saw that people were encouraged to enhance their wellbeing on a daily basis to take part in activities that encouraged and maximised their independence and also contributed positively to the homely atmosphere.

We spoke with a range of different team members; care, kitchen staff, domestics and maintenance staff who told us they all felt well supported and that the registered manager was supportive, and they were all polite, receptive, open and approachable.

Throughout the day we saw that people who used the service, relatives and staff were comfortable, relaxed and had an extremely positive rapport with the registered manager and also with each other.

From looking at people’s detailed care plans we saw they were written in plain English and in a person centred way and they also included a ‘one page profile’ that made use of pictures, personal history and described individuals care, treatment and support needs. These were regularly reviewed by including family members and people. These plans were regularly updated by the care staff and the registered manager.

Individual care plans contained risk assessments. These identified risks and described the measures and interventions to be taken to ensure people were protected from the risk of harm. The care records we viewed also showed us that people’s health was monitored and referrals were made to other health care professionals where necessary, for example: their GP or chiropodist.

Our observations during the inspection showed us that people who used the service were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their individual needs and wishes in a person centred way.

When we looked at the staff training records, they showed us staff were supported and able to maintain and develop their skills through training and unique development opportunities were accessible at this service. The staff we spoke with confirmed they attended a range of valuable learning opportunities. They told us they had regular supervisions and appraisals with the registered manager, where they had the opportunity to discuss their care practice and identify further mandatory and vocational training needs. We also viewed records that showed us there were robust recruitment processes in place.

We observed how the service administered medicines and how they did this safely. We looked at how records were kept and spoke with the registered manager about how senior staff were trained to administer medicine and we found that the medicine administering process was safe.

People were consistently actively encouraged to participate in numerous activities that were well thought out, organised, personalised and meaningful to them including, outings and regular entertainers. We saw staff spending their time positively engaging with people as a group and on a one to one basis in fun and meaningful activities. We saw evidence that people were not only being supported to go out and be active in their local community, but on holidays and they were also valued members of the local community.

We saw people were encouraged to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. We observed people being offered a varied selection of drinks and fresh homemade snacks. The daily menu that we saw was reflective of people’s likes and dislikes and offered varied choices and it was not an issue if people wanted something different.

We saw a complaints and compliments procedure was in place. This provided information on the action to take if someone wished to make a complaint and what they should expect to happen next. The compliments that we looked at were overwhelmingly complimentary to the care staff, management and the service as a whole and particularly around end of life care. People also had their rights respected and access to advocacy services if needed.

We found an effective quality assurance survey took place regularly and we looked at the results. The service had been regularly reviewed through a range of internal and external audits. We saw that action had been taken to improve the service or put right any issues found. We found people who used the service and their representatives were regularly asked for their views about the care and service they received at meetings and via surveys.