Wasdale Court

Updated 16 November 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector, a medicines inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Wasdale Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us.

Wasdale Court is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff, including the registered manager, a senior care worker and five care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and eight people’s medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 16 November 2022

About the service

Wasdale Court is a residential care home providing support and accommodation for up to nine younger adults with a learning disability or with autistic spectrum disorder, Physical disability, or mental health. On the day of inspection there were eight people at the service.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance Care Quality Commission (CQC) follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Care:

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. We observed positive interactions between people and staff. People’s care and treatment support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. Relatives told us they were involved in care planning and could attend meetings. Staff assessed people’s risks appropriately and encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Support:

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. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and achieve their aspirations and goals. The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well-furnished and well-maintained environment. People were supported to make decisions following best practice in decision making and staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Culture:

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality of life of their choosing. Staff told us they enjoyed their job and making a positive difference to someone’s life. Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care and staff evaluated the quality of care supported to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity. Relatives told us when they visited the service the atmosphere was good; staff were always pleasant and caring and that they would recommend the service to others.

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 16 June 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staff training and staff and management conduct. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, effective and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.