Enter and view: The Willows Care Home

Healthwatch North Lincolnshire is the independent health and social care champion. Local Healthwatch is in place to gather the views and experiences of people accessing services, to use this information to influence decisions and to provide information and advice to the local community about health and social care services.

These Enter and View visits are ‘announced’ visits where they notify the provider of their intention to visit. Healthwatch North Lincolnshire visited The Willows Care Home on 17/11/2016.

The summary of findings highlight: Overall Healthwatch representatives found The Willows to be clean but with some maintenance and improvements needed, including redecoration; residents liked the food provided and felt that they had enough to eat; staff at The Willows respect residents privacy and assist them in daily activities if needed; staff were also found to be smart and friendly, but very busy, which appears to be resulting in less time engaging with residents; during a busy period there is also a chance that alarm calls may not be answered in a timely fashion; plenty of information is available but it could be organised better so that it can be found more easily; activities within the home are provided for residents, however, it is felt that more interaction with staff and a break in the daily routine would be beneficial to residents especially those who are unable to watch television or partake in other activities.

Three main safety issues were identified during the visit. These were: Alarm calls – An alarm call was left ringing for a while and in the end the manager had to go and find out what was happening about the situation. If there is not a designated member of staff responsible for alarm calls then there is a chance that nobody will answer. A review of the alarm call procedure is, therefore, recommended. Trip hazard – A raised level at the entrance to the dining room was identified. Doctors being requested - One resident mentioned that they had requested to see a doctor but that this had not happened. It might be that staff are aware and attempting to make the appointment but residents should be kept informed.

The report includes 11 recommendations and does not include a response from the provider.