Beechwood House

Updated 29 January 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 19 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service one day’s notice of the inspection.

Updated 29 January 2022

The inspection took place on 29 and 30 August 2018 and was unannounced.

Beechwood House is registered to provide accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, for a maximum of 37 people. At the time of the inspection 37 people were living at Beechwood House, many of whom were living with dementia. Accommodation is over three floors, accessed by a lift, and includes shared living areas. There is a large garden to the rear of the home.

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

There was a registered manager is post at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the last inspection in September 2016 we found that the provider was in breach of Regulation 12 of the Health Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 because medicines were not managed safely. We asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key question of safe to at least good. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made. The service was managing medicines safely, and the provider was no longer breaching the regulation.

Staff were person-centred and treated people with kindness, compassion and respect. People’s visitors were welcomed and their privacy and dignity respected. People were supported to remain as independent as possible.

Activities were tailored to the interests and abilities of people. Staff supported people to challenge themselves and celebrated their successes.

End of life care was innovatively supported by the service. The right support for people, their relatives and the staff team had been considered and provided.

People told us they felt safe. Processes in place around safeguarding and the management of falls were followed, and lessons learnt to prevent reoccurrence. Risks to people’s safety had been appropriately assessed, and measures to reduce the risk implemented.

There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs, who had been recruited through safe recruitment processes. Staff were supported to ensure they had the right skills and knowledge to support people.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager led the service well. Staff told us they were well supported and people and their relatives told us they were involved in decisions about their care and the service.

The service worked in partnership with healthcare and other professionals, to ensure the best support for people.

There was a clear governance framework in place to assist the management team to identify areas for further improvement.