14th July 2016

Award winning Blackpool care home receives ‘outstanding’ CQC report. 

The management of a Blackpool care home is proud to declare that it has just received an ‘outstanding’ Care Quality Commission (CQC) report after an inspection that was carried out in late March of this year. ‘The Willows’, on Midgeland Road, Marton Moss, Blackpool, Lancashire, was found to be ‘outstanding’ in two categories out of five in the report. Three ‘Good’ accreditations were recorded, along with ‘Outstanding’ for the ‘Caring’ and ‘Well Led’ categories.

These results have put ‘The Willows’, run by Olivia Josephine Care Ltd, amongst the top one percent of establishments in the country. As many people know, to receive an ‘outstanding’ CQC award isn’t by any means easy. To gain one outstanding category is rare enough, but to receive two such categories out of five is exceptional.

The report contains many positive recommendations and remarks from residents and their relatives, who were interviewed by CQC inspectors. Those inspectors carefully checked necessary documentation and were in attendance for most of the day at The Willows. They spent their time observing, speaking with staff, residents and relatives. Quotes from the report, released on July 14th, speak for themselves:

“Without exception people who lived at the home and relatives we spoke with, told us they experienced extremely high standards of care from well-trained caring and respectful staff. We were informed staff and the management team were always kind, pleasant and approachable.”

One resident said: "Excellent staff who are always willing to help wherever they can.”

A relative said, "They are all so kind and caring.”

A survey, which had been completed by a relative, commented, “My [relative] is treated with dignity and respect. We are so glad we heard about this place.”

The Willows is home for around 15 residents at a time, who can receive either residential or nursing care, under their carefully created care plans. This attention to detail, and the management’s genuine compassion for peoples’ welfare, has meant that the home has really gone from strength to strength.  All this has happened in just seven years, since The Willows re-opened in 2009 under its current management and ownership.

Tracey Otterman, the registered manager, was particularly pleased to note that her hard work on strict procedural recruitment and training policies has continued to pay off, a fact that was borne out by an inspector’s conversation with a member of the care staff:

 “We looked at three staff recruitment files. We found required checks were in place. They included an application form that required a full employment history and references. Recruitment records also included evidence of qualifications and criminal record checks. We found the disclosure and barring check (DBS) was obtained prior to any staff commencing employment at the home.

This demonstrated safe recruitment checks were carried out by the management team to ensure suitable staff were employed. Staff we spoke with confirmed this. One staff member said, "The whole process was good including the induction training exercise. All my checks had to be in place before I started."

Building work on a planned extension to the premises on Midgeland Road is due very soon, which will comprise 11 more bedrooms and a day-room facility. This new wing should be open by the summer of 2017.

The CEO of the company is definitely a ‘hands on’ owner and proprietor. He is Paul Swithenbank, a 50 year old, local family man. He is more than ably assisted by his partner Tracey Otterman, a practical, level-headed former registered general nurse from Manchester.  She is now a local magistrate in the Fylde and also The Willows registered care manager. There are 14 more care staff, which means that there is always an excellent ratio of carers to residents.

Paul says that after seven years dedication, he’s absolutely delighted to have received an  outstanding inspection from CQC. “It’s moments like this that really make it all worthwhile. The hard work by everyone here, not least Tracey, our registered care manager and her team, is never ending. I put a huge personal and financial stake into this business back in 2009, and I continue to make sure that I keep on top of things every day.

I chose to call the company ‘Olivia Josephine Care’ because that was my late mother’s name. When I started looking into finding a good enough care home for her, over seven years ago, that difficult process made me think that I could do as good a job, if not better, than a lot of the places I visited back then.

 It seems that events are proving me to be right, and I’m humbly, truly honoured by our team’s achievements. The welfare of the people here at The Willows is the most important thing to me by far.  It’s good for everyone here. Our challenge now is to uphold and surpass these very high standards that we have set for ourselves.”

Other awards won by The Willows include the ‘Most Recommended Care Home Nationally’ awarded by carehome.co.uk.  In that same year, The Willows was national runner-up in the ‘Care Home of The Year’ awards, presented at The Hilton Hotel, London.

The Willows also gained a ‘Beacon Award’ for the 'National Gold Standards Framework’, (GSF) in March 2014.

 Olivia Josephine Care Ltd has also gained the ‘Investors In People (IIP) Gold Award’ in March this year.  This status confirms the highest achievement attainable for investment in staff welfare and training. The internationally recognised IIP accreditation is held by around 14,000 organisations across 75 countries of the world.