About the service Woodland Manor Care Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 41 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 64 people.
Woodland Manor Care Home accommodates 64 people across four separate units. Two units provide residential care and two units provide nursing care. The service supports people living with dementia. The home is purpose built, with all bedrooms having an en-suite shower, shared communal dining and sitting room facilities. It has a separate dining room for special occasions, a cafe bistro at the entrance to the home, a cinema and activity room which is accessible to people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and the majority of relatives we spoke with for feedback were happy with the care provided. Some people would prefer to be at home but overall felt they got the care and support they required. Relatives were generally happy with the care and some relatives gave us examples of where their family members health had improved. All of the relatives, whilst finding the restrictions on visits incredibly tough, acknowledged that the service had done a great job in managing and responding to the COVID -19 pandemic and preventing an outbreak.
Systems were in place to keep people safe. Risks to them were identified and managed. Safe medicine practices were promoted, and measures were in place to prevent cross infection. Accidents and incidents were monitored, and systems were in place to promote learning from accidents/incidents and prevent reoccurrence. Staff were suitably recruited, deployed and the required staffing levels were maintained. The shifts were managed, and tasks were allocated which resulted in people getting the required care in a timely manner.
People were supported by staff who were suitably inducted, trained and supported. The training and induction was tailored to different roles and regular monitoring of staff practice took place to ensure the training was embedded into practice. The management team had a presence on the units and assisted on shifts which further supported staff. People’s health and nutritional needs were identified and met, and they had access to health professionals to further promote their well-being. 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; Whilst systems and policies were in place to support this the registered manager had identified that further training was needed.
We did not review the caring domain at this inspection. However, we observed staff were kind, caring, gentle and responsive to people’s needs. People and relatives were complimentary of individual staff and gave examples where they felt they had gone the extra mile in relation to supporting them and their family member.
Person centred care was promoted and continued to be developed. People’s care, support and communication needs were identified and met. People had access to one to one and group activities and the activity team had supported people and their relatives to keep in touch during the pandemic. People’s end of life wishes, and preferences were identified, where the person and their family members had participated in that discussion. The service was supporting people on end of life care and staff had been trained and supported in that role. Systems were in place to deal with concerns and complaints. Some relatives raised concerns with us about their experiences of care. We have directed them to the provider to explore further.
People were supported by a service that was well managed and monitored. The registered manager had worked incredibly hard to improve the service and bring about positive changes and processes. They had built a strong management team to support them. As a result, communication, team work and staff morale had improved which resulted in positive outcomes for people. Regular auditing and reviewing of practices and processes took place which enabled the registered manager to have oversight of what areas needed further improvement.
People and the majority of relatives were positive about the improvements the registered manager had brought to the service. They described the registered manager as “accessible”, “approachable”, “honest”, “listens and provides clarity’. A relative commented “I think the home is extremely well managed. I have found [registered managers name] firm but caring. She explains herself clearly, she is very hardworking, dedicated to her job and goes that extra mile. I am happy to trust my mother’s care to a home managed by her”.
Staff described the registered manager as “firm”, “fair”, “friendly”, “knowledgeable”, “experienced and professional’. A staff member told us they, “Felt happier, better supported, appreciated, valued and clear of what was expected from them.” Another staff member commented, “It is more friendly here now. Staff work well as a team. Morale is good and staff feel like they can progress. Everyone gets the opportunity.”
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was Inadequate (inspected on the 6 and 7 November 2019 and republished on the 16 September 2020 once representations to our previous actions could be published). There was continued multiple breaches at that inspection.
The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. They have provided us with regular updates on the action plan and evidence of their auditing to show the progress made.
At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since November 2019. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We carried out this focused inspection to check that the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for the caring key question which was not looked at on this occasion was used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodland Manor Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
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.