Whitehall Lodge Care Home

Updated 6 September 2018

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.

Our inspection was unannounced and took place on 16 August 2018 by one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. Providers are required by law to notify us about events and incidents that occur; we refer to these as notifications. We looked at notifications that the provider had sent to us. We contacted the local authority and Healthwatch to get their view on the home. We used the information we had gathered to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection and corroborate our inspection findings.

We spoke with all three people who lived at the home, the registered manager /provider by telephone [as they were on leave], the deputy manager, a senior care staff and a care staff member. We also spoke with a senior mental health practitioner who was visiting one person living at the home on the day of our inspection.

We reviewed three people’s care records, three recruitment records, staff training records, complaints records and quality assurance checks.

Updated 6 September 2018

Whitehall Lodge is a small residential care home for three people with a range of mental health conditions.

Rating at last inspection.

At our last inspection in December 2015, we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

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Why the service is rated Good.

People told us they continued to receive care which protected them from avoidable harm and abuse. We found that incidents had been reported to the local authority safeguarding. Risks to people's safety were identified and measures were in place to help reduce these risks. When people required support to take their medicines this only happened when staff had received the training and were competent to do so. Regular checks on staff practices were undertaken to support people's safety. People thought there were enough staff to provide support and meet their needs.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Staff had received training to provide them with the skills and knowledge they needed to provide the right care and support people as required. People were provided with care which continued to be effective in meeting their individual needs.

People enjoyed spending time with staff that cared for them and were treated with dignity and respect. People were encouraged to maintain their own personal interests and take part in activities within the home or out in the local community.

People's care was planned in ways which reflected their preferences and wishes. Health and social care professionals' views and suggestions were listened to and considered when people's care was planned.

People knew how to complain if they needed to.

People living at the home and their relatives were encouraged to give regular feedback on the service provided through meetings and questionnaires. The registered manager regularly checked the quality of the care people received. Where actions were identified these were undertaken to improve people's care further.