Wytham House

Updated 17 February 2022

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 COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 27 January 2022 and was announced. The service was invited to take part in this thematic review which is seeking to identify examples of good practice in infection prevention and control.

Updated 17 February 2022

About the service:

Wytham House is a care home providing personal and nursing care to people aged 65 and over living with dementia. The care home accommodates up to 40 people across three separate units laid over two floors. There were 37 people living at the service at the time of our inspection.

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

People living at Wytham House received safe care from skilled and knowledgeable staff. Staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. The provider had safe recruitment and selection processes in place.

Risks to people's safety and well-being were managed through a risk management process. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs. Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines safely and as prescribed.

Relatives told us staff were caring. Staff consistency enabled people to receive good care from staff who knew them well. Staff did all they could to promote independency and we saw examples of such practices.

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. Staff had a particularly good understanding of when the principles of the Mental Capacity Act should be applied. People were supported to meet their nutritional needs and complimented the food at the home

The home was well-led by a registered manager who was committed to improving people’s quality of life. The service had a clear management and staffing structure in place and staff worked well as a team. The provider had effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Staff worked well with external social and health care professionals.

Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was good (published 13 September 2017).

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

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.