Archived: The White House Nursing Home

Updated 6 March 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type:

The White House Nursing Home is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager who had applied to be registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The White House Nursing Home is in administration. The Krinvest Care Group were assisting the Administrators to operate the care home whilst a sale can be secured. The director of operations and an operations manager were providing management oversight and support to the manager at the time of the inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We did not request a provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the manager, director of operations, an operations manager and five members of staff. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and various medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records.

Updated 6 March 2020

About the service

The White House Nursing Home is a purpose-built residential care home providing personal care to 35 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 67 people.

The White House Nursing Home is in administration. A supporting provider, The Krinvest Care Group, had been instructed by the Administrators to operate the care home whilst a sale is secured.

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

People were mostly happy with the care and support they received. One person felt some elements could be improved. Staff were kind, friendly and attentive to people’s needs. People told us there were enough staff to meet their needs. Staff felt that there were enough of them to meet people’s needs in a person-centred way. Staff were trained and felt well supported.

People felt safe and staff were aware of how to promote people’s safety. Regular checks were in place to ensure staff worked in accordance with training and health and safety guidance was adhered to. Where there had been an increase in incidents, the manager told us this was due to better reporting from staff. However, the action plan in place to reduce the risk of skin tears, needed to be reviewed as this had not been effective.

There were governance systems in place and these were being used effectively and regularly. The management structure in the home made staff feel they had guidance and support.

There was plenty of communal space for people to enjoy, however, some of these spaces were not used. People living in the upstairs of the house would benefit from accessing the communal areas if possible. People participated in the activities that were provided, however people upstairs needed more opportunities for social interaction.

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 involved in planning their care, along with their relatives. People had end of life care plans in place. Complaints were responded to appropriately. Feedback was sought through meetings and a survey was due to be sent.

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

The last rating for this service was Inadequate (published 17 October 2019). At this inspection the service has improved to Requires improvement.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. 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 8 August 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

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.