CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Trewan House Care Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, January 2023
Rated Requires Improvement; inspectors found kind, responsive care but unsafe medicines management and weak oversight.
This was the first inspection since the home was registered under the current provider. Inspectors visited without notice on 24 November and 1 December 2022. They spoke with people, relatives, staff and a healthcare professional, observed care, and checked care, medicines and management records.
The main safety concerns were medicines being given late or too close together, and risk information not always being detailed or up to date. On the first day, some people also waited for support because there were not enough staff available at that time. The registered manager made immediate changes to medicines, staffing and some care records during the inspection.
Inspectors found staff were kind, respectful and knew people well. The home was clean, infection control arrangements were in place, and people received support with food, healthcare, activities and complaints. The overall Requires Improvement rating means the home was not consistently safe or well-managed, even though Effective, Caring and Responsive were rated Good.
Kind and respectful staff
Inspectors saw positive interactions and found that staff treated people as individuals. People and relatives said staff were caring and respectful.
“They [staff] are caring and kind, and really look after people well” from the report
Clean and infection-safe
The home was clean. Staff had suitable protective equipment and visiting arrangements followed current guidance.
“Staff had access to appropriate PPE and wore this as outlined in national guidance.” from the report
Personalised support
Staff knew people well and supported their choices and preferences. People were offered activities and help to maintain relationships.
“Staff clearly knew people well and supported them in line with their preferences.” from the report
Medicines were not always safe
seriousSome people received medicines late, and some doses were given too close together. The report says this created a risk of overdose, although inspectors found no evidence that anyone had been harmed.
“Some people had been given paracetamol without observing the four-hour gap required between doses.” from the report
Risk plans lacked detail
seriousSome people had no suitable risk assessments or care plans for conditions including diabetes and epilepsy. Other plans were incomplete, inaccurate or did not reflect current needs.
“People were exposed to a risk of harm due to a lack of person-centred risk assessments.” from the report
Management checks missed problems
seriousProvider audits had not identified the medicines concerns. Checks had identified some care plan problems, but action was not always taken quickly enough.
“Governance processes were not always effective at ensuring timely improvements were made.” from the report
Staffing was short on day one
needs fixingInspectors saw people waiting for support because staff were not available. Staffing was reviewed and improved on the second day.
“We observed people waiting extended periods of time due to a lack of staff available to support them.” from the report
Some records needed improvement
minorCare plans were being moved to an electronic system, but some did not yet contain enough information. Food and fluid records also needed more consistent detail.
“However, some improvements were needed to ensure consistency with the level of detail recorded on food and fluid charts.” from the report
- 01What changes have been made to ensure medicines are given at the correct time and that doses, including paracetamol, are safely spaced?
- 02Have all residents' risk assessments and care plans been updated, particularly for diabetes, epilepsy and other specific health conditions?
- 03How do managers now check that medicines and care records are safe and that problems are acted on promptly?
- 04What staffing levels are planned for each shift, and how will the home prevent people waiting for help?
- 05How are food and fluid charts being checked for complete and consistent recording?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five key questions, including infection prevention and control; it was the first inspection of the newly registered service. This explanation was written from the published report of 14 January 2023 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of Trewan House Care Home
4 rated inspections over 7 years: the service has slipped, from Good to Requires improvement.
- January 2023Requires improvementcurrent ratingdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- February 2021Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2018Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- September 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- June 2021
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 9 June 2021.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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At least 100 live-in carers within about an hour of Halton
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Most charge £980 to £1,260 a week. 89 can care for a couple. 10 years' experience on average.
“It was clear that she genuinely cared and her warm approach really helped put our minds at ease.”
“He developed a close affinity with Terence, spending time talking with him before he retired to bed and looking after his needs during the night.”
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