Beech Dene Residential Care Home

Updated 8 February 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 3 inspectors (2 inspectors visited the home and 1 made telephone calls to relatives after the visit) and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Beech Dene Residential Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Beech Dene Residential Care Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 4 August 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 people who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 9 members of staff including; kitchen staff, a maintenance person, senior care staff, care staff, the deputy manager, the registered manager and the nominated individual.

The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 8 February 2023

About the service

Beech Dene Residential Care Home is a care home providing personal care to 32 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 35 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care for or support anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

Right Support

The environment was not always safe for people because checks had not identified areas where people may have been at risk of harm, such as a lack of window restrictors and large openings made in some radiator covers. Refurbishment was on-going to make the home more reflective of the needs of the people who lived there. People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not always support best practice. Medicines were not always safely managed. People were supported to access support from other organisations to achieve positive health outcomes.

Right Care

Some improvements were needed to people’s care plans; although they were person-centred, these were not always updated in a timely way and not all health risks were assessed and planned for. Some aspects of people’s dignity and privacy had not fully been considered by the registered manager. Not all people sharing bedrooms had been fully involved in the decision-making process. People and relatives told us they felt staff were caring and respectful. Staff knew people and their needs well. There were enough staff who received appropriate training and this was updated as needed. This included how staff recognise and report abuse to keep people safe.

Right Culture

The registered manager was responsive to our feedback and took some immediate actions to ensure people were safe from environmental risks. People, relatives and staff were positive about the management team. Staff promoted a caring environment for people. Staff felt supported in their role and felt able to raise concerns if needed.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 29 October 2021 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was requires improvement, published on 2 July 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to people’s dignity and respect, consent not being obtained, environmental risks in the building as well as the overall governance of the service at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.