Archived: Belle Green Court Care Home

Updated 18 October 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by one inspector, one assistant inspector 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

Belle Green Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with CQC. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager was absent from the service at the time of this inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from commissioners of the service and Healthwatch (Barnsley). Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 11 people who used the service and nine relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the deputy manager, care workers and other domiciliary staff including the cook.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and multiple medication records. We checked a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

We spent time observing the daily life in the service and we looked around the building to check environmental safety and cleanliness.

After the inspection

We sought some more information from the deputy manager. This was provided in a timely manner and was used to inform our judgements.

Updated 18 October 2019

About the service

Belle Green Court is a residential care home that provides accommodation for older people who require personal care. The home can accommodate up to 40 people in one adapted building, over two floors. At the time of this inspection there were 38 people using the service.

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

Risks involved in the delivery of care to people were not adequately documented and there was not enough information in people’s care plans to support staff to manage risks effectively. The management of people’s medicines was not always safe. People said staff responded to them quickly when they needed support and people felt safe when receiving care at Belle Green Court. Staff knew how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. The home was generally clean and tidy. People were protected from the spread of infection.

People were happy with the care they received. They said they were supported by staff who knew how to provide the care they needed. However, staff training was not up to date and some staff told us their supervision meetings were not effective. People were happy with the food they received, however, we found the kitchen staff did not have adequate information about people who required a special diet to reduce the risk of choking. This placed people at risk. People were supported to access community health professionals when necessary.

People were cared for by staff who knew them well. People had developed positive relationships with staff. Everyone we spoke with told us staff were kind and caring. People were treated with dignity and respect, and staff protected people’s privacy. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

A minimal number of activities were available to people. Improvements were required in this area to ensure activities were available more often and were person-centred and meaningful to people. We have made a recommendation about the development of activity provision in the home. People’s care plans required improvement to ensure they were person-centred and supported staff to provide personalised care. People knew how to complain or raise concerns about their care.

Improvements were needed to the quality assurance processes used by the registered manager and provider to assess the safety and the quality of the service being provided. The checks completed by the registered manager had not ensured the service complied with all legal obligations. People told us they did not have regular opportunities to provide feedback about the service. We found the provider had taken insufficient action to make necessary improvements to the service following feedback given by people in 2018.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 3 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the safety of the service, the recruitment of staff, the provision of staff training and supervision, the reporting of incidents and events to CQC and the governance and quality assurance systems used by the service.

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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.