Alex Wood House

Updated 12 February 2021

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.

As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 2 February 2021 and was announced.

Updated 12 February 2021

About the service

Alex Wood House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 34 older people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 36 people on two floors of a purpose-built care home. The building has communal areas such as a conservatory, lounge/ diners, a sensory room and a garden for people and their visitors to use. The ground floor provides care to people living with dementia.

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

Trained staff followed the systems in place to monitor and manage people’s risks and keep people safe from avoidable harm. Staff followed good practice guidelines to prevent the spread of infection. Staff who had been trained and their competency checked, managed and administered people’s prescribed medicines safely.

Staff received training and supervision from the management team that helped enable them to do their job well. The provider and registered manager supported staff to develop their skills and knowledge through further training.

Staff treated the people they supported with kindness and compassion. People liked the staff that cared for them. Staff promoted and maintained people’s privacy and dignity. People enjoyed the activities that went on at the service, but some people told us they would like more trips outside of the service. Links were established with the local community and people from the community were encouraged to visit the coffee mornings held at the service.

People were supported to eat and drink enough amounts, however people had mixed opinions about the food. People were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff gave and respected people’s choices. Their preferences on how staff delivered their care was recorded in their care records for staff to follow. This included people’s end of life wishes.

The service was well managed by a registered manager and regular input from the providers management team. Staff were passionate about giving people a good-quality service. Staff used varying systems to monitor the quality of care being delivered to people. Representatives from the providers management team undertook monitoring visits to spot check the quality of the service provided.

Complaints and concerns were investigated, and complainants responded to. People, their relatives and staff were given opportunities to give their view of the service and from this feedback action was taken to make any improvements.

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.

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 17 May 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.