CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Whetstone Grange
Rated Requires improvement: inspectors found the home was not performing as well as it should and told it what to change.
What inspectors found, March 2021
Rated Good overall; inspectors found people were safe and cared for kindly, but management and quality checks required improvement.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 4 and 5 February 2021. It followed a complaint and concerns about infection prevention and control. Inspectors looked only at Safe and Well-led. They spoke with people, relatives and staff, and checked care, medicines and management records.
The home was rated Good for Safe. Inspectors found enough staff on duty, safe recruitment, suitable risk assessments, safe medicines arrangements and effective infection control measures. They also found kind and caring relationships between staff and people.
The home was rated Requires Improvement for Well-led. A new manager had not yet registered with the CQC, some required notifications had not been sent, and some quality checks had lapsed. The manager had submitted the missing notifications and had plans to improve the systems. The overall rating stayed Good because ratings for other areas were carried forward from an earlier comprehensive inspection.
Safe care planning
Care plans and risk assessments gave staff enough information about people's needs and risks. Staff knew people well and followed planned care.
“Risk assessments and care plans contained enough information to instruct staff how to respond to people's identified needs and risks.” from the report
Safe medicines
Medicines records showed that people received their medicines as prescribed and on time. Medicines were regularly audited.
“Medicine Administration Records (MAR) indicated people had received their medicines as prescribed and on time.” from the report
Infection control
Inspectors were assured about PPE, testing, cleaning, social distancing and the home's ability to manage an outbreak.
“We were assured that the provider was making sure infection outbreaks can be effectively prevented or managed.” from the report
Kind relationships
Inspectors saw positive relationships and kind, caring interactions between staff and people.
“There was a positive culture in the service and care delivery was person centred. We observed kind and caring interactions between staff and people.” from the report
Management arrangements
needs fixingThe new manager had been in post for three months but was not yet registered with the CQC. The provider remained legally responsible for the service.
“There was no registered manager in place at the service.” from the report
Quality monitoring
needs fixingSome quality checks had lapsed, and three legally required notifications had not been sent to the CQC. These notifications were submitted during the inspection and an improvement plan was provided.
“Quality Assurance systems and processes were in place including audits of IPC, medicines and accidents and incidents. However, some had lapsed following the previous inspection.” from the report
Staffing records
needs fixingThere was no formal process for calculating the staffing level needed to meet people's needs at the time of the inspection. A new staffing calculator was introduced afterwards.
“A process to assess the staffing level needed to meet people's needs was not in place.” from the report
- 01Has the manager now registered with the CQC, and who is responsible for the home until registration is complete?
- 02How often are quality, medicines, infection control and accident audits now completed?
- 03How does the current staffing calculator reflect residents' needs, including at night and during staff absence?
- 04Have all required notifications to the CQC been submitted correctly since this inspection?
- 05How are staff meetings and supervision being kept regular?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led only; the ratings for Effective, Caring and Responsive came from earlier inspections. This explanation was written from the published report of 11 March 2021 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.
What inspectors found, January 2021
Whetstone Grange was inspected but not rated; inspectors found good infection controls, with some development support signposted.
This was an unannounced, targeted inspection on 10 November 2020. It looked at infection prevention and control because of the COVID-19 outbreak response.
Inspectors were assured that the home was managing visitors, shielding, social distancing, admissions, personal protective equipment, testing, hygiene and infection outbreaks. The home also had a separate isolation area and helped people keep in touch through video calls.
The service was inspected but not rated. This report therefore does not give an overall judgement about the quality of care or a rated judgement for the five areas.
Infection controls
Inspectors found good infection prevention controls to help prevent the spread of infection.
“The service had good infection prevention controls in place to prevent the spread of infection.” from the report
Isolation arrangements
The home had a separate area for isolating people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was a separate isolation area in the premises to prevent the spread of the COVID 19.” from the report
Keeping people connected
The home supported virtual visits using video calls and other information technology.
“The service facilitated virtual visits through the use of information technology such as video calls.” from the report
Further development needed
minorInspectors signposted the home to resources to develop its approach to shielding and social distancing. The report does not give further detail about what needed to change.
“We have also signposted the provider to resources to develop their approach.” from the report
- 01What changes did you make after being signposted to resources about shielding and social distancing?
- 02How do you currently manage visitors to prevent infections being brought into or spread around the home?
- 03How is the separate isolation area used, and when would it be needed?
- 04How do you make sure residents and staff receive testing and use PPE safely?
- 05What information can you provide about care quality areas that were not covered by this inspection?
This was an unannounced targeted inspection of infection prevention and control practices during the COVID-19 outbreak response; the service was inspected but not rated and the other care areas were not assessed. This explanation was written from the published report of 6 January 2021 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 Whetstone Grange
6 rated inspections over 6 years: the service has improved, from Requires improvement to Good.
- March 2021Goodcurrent ratingSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- January 2021Inspected but not ratedSafe: Inspected but not rated
- January 2020Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodWell-led: Good
- May 2017Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- January 2017Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- December 2015Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- May 2015Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- August 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- September 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- August 2011
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2010
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 5 November 2010.
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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