Woodstock Nursing Home

We found improvements had been made to the provider’s recruitment processes. Safe employment and recruitment checks were now being completed. Medicines were not always managed safely; however, we were assured as the provider took action to resolve this at the time of the assessment. Staff knew how to report safeguarding concerns and managers worked with external agencies to address safeguarding issues. Staff told us there were insufficient staff to fully meet people’s needs although the provider used a dependency assessment tool to help them determine what staffing numbers were required. The service had experienced a period of poor staff retention and they used agency staff to supplement the staffing numbers. We were informed the care home was actively recruiting new staff. Our observations showed the staff available did not always have the experience and skills required to effectively support the needs of those being admitted. We received mixed feedback from relatives regarding the staffing levels. Most relatives considered their family member to be safe at Woodstock Nursing Home. Where there had been safety concerns the service worked with external agencies and professionals to address these concerns.

We observed staff to be caring and on the whole alert to people’s immediate needs. Some staff were not always familiar with the people they were supporting or had the necessary skill and experience to recognise and meet people’s immediate needs. The lack of involvement of care team leaders, in the decisions made about who was admitted, had meant staff had not always been able to challenge those decisions. This had led to people with increasingly complex needs being admitted, sometimes at a fast pace, without consideration of the staff teams skills, experience and capacity to meet those needs. Most people’s relatives told us staff did a good job at supporting their relative’s immediate needs, although some relatives had needed to raise questions about the care provided to their family member.

We found improvements had been made to the provider’s quality monitoring systems and processes. A new senior leadership team had been recently formed and they were providing the service with the support it needed to make improvements. At the time of the assessment more time was needed to demonstrate that this support would achieve the necessary improvements needed to the service. It had also been recognised by the senior leadership team that more support and guidance was needed for the registered manager, and this was being provided. At the time of the assessment staff were aware of the challenges facing the registered manager, but they did not always feel the registered manager’s approach was supporting effective teamworking.