Willowbank Nursing Home

The home is an extended detached older property which has retained a number of original features and is set in extensive gardens. The home is set in a quiet residential area approximately a mile from Burnley town centre with shops, a post office, public houses and a bus route nearby.

We found the following examples of good practice.

There were clear infection prevention and control procedures which were understood and followed by staff. All staff were trained in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), handwashing techniques and participated in the testing programme. During our visit, staff were wearing appropriate PPE and plentiful supplies were available around the home. We discussed the risks associated with staff travelling to and from work in uniform; the registered manager agreed to re consider this.

There was a good standard of cleanliness in all areas seen. Additional housekeeping staff had been employed and the frequency of cleaning had been increased. There were effective policies, procedures and risk assessments in place to maintain good practice in relation to infection control and to provide safe and kind care.

The provider's infection prevention and control policies and procedures were up to date and regular audits had been carried out. A Covid-19 Response Plan and business contingency plan were in place and had been reviewed.

People were supported to maintain contact with their relatives in different ways including the use of technology and phone calls. A visiting pod had recently been made available for relatives to visit their family members. We observed this in use and noted there were safe procedures in place to support this. There were health checks in place for essential visitors. We saw evidence these had been carried out but not consistently. We discussed this with the registered manager who had already taken action to address this.

The atmosphere in the home was settled and calm. Staff were attentive and caring towards people and clearly knew what support people needed. People were watching TV and spending time talking to others or staff.

We were assured this service met infection prevention and control guidelines.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found