Beaconsfield Residential Care Home

Updated 12 January 2021

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.

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 conducted by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience [ExE]. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The ExE had experience in mental health and spoke to people and relatives via the telephone.

Service and service type

Beaconsfield Residential Care Home 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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission at the time of the inspection. At this inspection there was a manager in place who had commenced the registration process with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 30 minutes notice of the inspection visit. This was because we needed to check if the service had anyone who had tested positive for coronavirus or had symptoms, so we could plan our inspection safely.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service. We also spoke with five members of staff including, the manager, the chef and four members of care staff. We observed the care being provided, reviewed the safety of the environment, reviewed medicine processes and looked at staff files in relation to recruitment.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed and analysed a range of records we had received from the service, including multiple care plans and risk assessments. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including, quality assurance records, training information, records of accidents and incidents, activities, the service improvement plan and additional supporting information provided by manager. We contacted and spoke with three people who use the service and four relatives.

Updated 12 January 2021

About the service

Beaconsfield Residential Care Home is a care home providing personal care to people living with a mental health condition and/or a learning disability. The care home is registered to accommodate up to 22 people. There were 20 people using the service at the time of the inspection.

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

People were supported by staff who were kind, caring and who understood their likes, dislikes and preferences. People were happy living at Beaconsfield Residential Care Home and told us they felt safe.

Recruitment practices were effective and there were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs. People were protected from avoidable harm, received their medicines as prescribed and infection control risks were managed safely. Individual and environmental risks were managed appropriately.

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.

People's care plans contained detailed information about them and their care and support needs, to help staff deliver care that was individual to each person. These were reviewed regularly to ensure the care and support provided to people, continued to meet their needs.

People were supported to access health and social care professionals when needed, received enough to eat and drink and were happy with the food provided. Staff had received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely. They received regular supervision to help develop their skills and support them in their role.

Staff showed an understanding of equality and diversity and people were treated with dignity, and their privacy was respected. Activities had been developed in line with people's wishes and there were varied and interesting options, to promote people’s health and well-being.

The service had a positive person-centred culture. Both people and staff told us the manager was approachable. The service worked in partnership with others and engaged people and staff. There was a positive staff culture, and this reflected in a happy and friendly atmosphere.

People and their relatives felt the manager was open, approachable and supportive. Everyone was confident they would take actions to address any concerns promptly. There were effective governance systems in place to identify any concerns in the service and drive improvement.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, 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 providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support

The model of care and setting maximised people’s choice, control and Independence. The size of the service having a negative impact on people, had been mitigated in the following ways; The building was a large home in a residential road with other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside the building that may indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people. Most people who lived at the service did not have a learning disability, however, those that did were supported to access their community. Choice and inclusion was actively promoted so people using the service could lead as full lives as possible.

Right care

Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. All people living at the service had detailed and individualised care plans in place which demonstrated people’s support was built around them and this enabled people to live individualised lifestyles. People had a high level of autonomy over how they spent their time and were actively involved in making decisions around their care and the environment in which they lived.

Right culture

The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the manager and care staff ensured people using the service lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 18 July 2019).

Why we inspected

This focused inspection was prompted due to the inspection history of the service and the previous rating. We needed to check that improvements that had been made had been embedded and sustained. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions, Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led as these were the areas that required improvement at the previous inspection.

The rating from the previous comprehensive inspection for the key question not looked at on this occasion, were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Beaconsfield Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.