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CQC report explained · a residential care home, run by We Care Group

The Willows Care Home

14 Wolverhampton Road, Codsall, Wolverhampton, WV8 1PP

Goodpublished 23 January 2024, 2 years ago

Rated Good: inspectors found the service performing well and meeting their expectations.

The five questions inspectors ask
Safe?
Good
People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Inspectors found suitable staffing, safe recruitment, safe medicines handling, clean surroundings and risk assessments that staff followed.
Effective?
Good
This question was not rated in this inspection.
Caring?
Good
This question was not rated in this inspection.
Responsive?
Good
This question was not rated in this inspection.
Well-led?
Good
Inspectors found a positive and open culture, clear management arrangements and effective quality monitoring. People and staff were involved in decisions about the service.
The latest report, explained

What inspectors found, January 2024

The Willows Care Home was rated Good; inspectors found safe care and good management, with minor issues about window restrictors and medicines records.

This was an unannounced inspection on 09 January 2024. One CQC operations manager visited, spoke with people, staff and a health professional, observed care, and checked care plans, medicines records, recruitment files and management audits.

The home was rated Good for Safe and Well-led. Inspectors found people were protected from abuse, risks were assessed, medicines were generally handled safely, and there were enough suitably recruited staff. The home was clean and visitors could attend without restrictions.

Inspectors found some minor issues that the home's audits had not identified. Smaller windows needed restrictors, and some paper information about as-needed medicines and medicine patches was still being updated. The window restrictors were fitted the next day, and the medicines information was sent to inspectors after the visit.

What inspectors praised

  • Protection from harm

    The home acted when there were safeguarding concerns, accidents or falls. Staff knew how to report suspected abuse.

    “People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and action was taken to mitigate the risk of harm to people following incidents and accidents.” from the report

  • Staffing

    Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs safely. Recruitment checks followed appropriate procedures.

    “People and staff, we spoke with told us there were enough staff to meet people's needs safely.” from the report

  • Medicines and cleanliness

    Medicines were stored and administered safely during the visit. The home was clean and hygienic.

    “We observed a trained member of staff administer people's prescribed medicines in a safe way.” from the report

  • Open management

    Inspectors found a positive culture and a clear management structure. People were asked for their views about the service.

    “There was a positive and open culture at the service.” from the report
What inspectors were concerned about

  • Window restrictors

    serious

    Smaller envelope windows did not have restrictors when inspectors visited. This created a risk of someone falling from height, although restrictors were fitted the following day.

    “although window restrictors had been fitted on all the larger windows, the smaller envelope windows required restrictors fitting.” from the report

  • Medicine information

    needs fixing

    Paper protocols for as-needed medicines and body maps for medicine patches were still being updated because the electronic system could not store them. Copies were sent to inspectors after the inspection.

    “PRN medicine (as required medicines) protocols and body maps for medicine patches were in the process of being updated in paper form” from the report
Questions to ask them, based on this report
  1. 01Are the window restrictors now fitted to every applicable window, and how are they checked?
  2. 02How are as-needed medicine protocols stored, reviewed and made available to staff?
  3. 03How are body maps for medicine patches kept up to date now that the electronic system cannot store them?
  4. 04How do people and relatives give feedback, and how does the home act on it?
  5. 05What changes have been made since the previous Good rating published on 19 March 2018?

This inspection rated Safe and Well-led only; Effective, Caring and Responsive were not rated in this report. This explanation was written from the published report of 23 January 2024 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.

The story over the years

Every inspection of The Willows Care Home

3 rated inspections over 8 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.

  1. January 2024Goodcurrent ratingstayed Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read what inspectors found at The Willows Care Home →

  2. March 2018Goodstayed Good
    Safe: GoodWell-led: Good

    We are reading this report · the original is on cqc.org.uk

  3. March 2016Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  4. April 2015

    Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 April 2015.

Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission. A service can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections, not every contact the CQC has had with the service.

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