Archived: Beauchamp House Nursing Home

Updated 15 August 2018

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection was carried out by one inspector, a specialist professional advisor, who was a nurse 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. When the service was last inspected in May 2017 we found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Before the inspection we looked at the information we held about the service. This included information supplied at registration, statutory notifications (issues providers are legally required to notify us about) other enquiries from and about the provider and other key information we hold about the service. The provider also completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, tell us what the service does well and the improvements they planned to make.

We spoke with 13 people who used the service and five people's relatives or visitors. We also spoke with 17 members of staff. This included the operations manager, transitional support manager, the manager, the deputy manager, the administrator, nursing staff, care staff maintenance staff and the housekeeping staff.

During the inspection, we looked at 10 people's care and support records. We also reviewed records associated with people's care provision such as medicine records and daily care records relating to food and fluid consumption. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service such as the staffing rotas, policies, incident and accident records, four staff recruitment and training records, meeting minutes and audit reports. We requested feedback from three visiting professionals.

Updated 15 August 2018

We undertook an unannounced inspection of Beauchamp House Nursing Home on 17 and 18 July 2018. When the service was last inspected in May 2017, two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 were identified. This was because people were not always fully protected against the risks associated with medicines and there were a lack of sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff deployed to meet people’s needs.

Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key questions, Safe, Responsive and Well led to at least good.

The provider wrote to us in July 2017 and told us how they would achieve compliance with the regulations. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made in all areas and there was a commitment to on-going improvements.

Beauchamp House Nursing Home 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.

Beauchamp House Nursing Home provides residential and nursing care for up to a maximum 54 people. At the time of our inspection, 43 people were living at the service. The service specialises in caring for older people including those with physical disabilities, people living with a mild dementia or those who require end of life care.

Within the grounds of Beauchamp House Nursing Home there are thirteen sheltered housing units where people can live independently or access personal care. At the time of our inspection, nobody living within these houses was receiving personal care from the staff at the service.

There was a manager in post who was going through the process of applying to be the registered manager. 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.

People and their relatives spoke highly of the manager and the improvements that had been made since they had been in post. One person told us, “The lovely new matron [manager] has made a difference.”

Staffing levels and the deployment of staff had improved. There were systems in place to ensure suitable staff were recruited. Improvements had been made to the management of medicines; medicines were stored and administered safely.

People felt safe with the staff supporting them. People were supported by staff who knew how to recognise and report abuse. Risks to people were identified and risk management plans were in place. Measures were in place to prevent the risk of the spread of infection. There were systems in place to record and review any accidents or incidents that occurred.

People were supported to receive a diet that met their needs, and their nutritional needs were met. There were a range of choices and options on the menu and our observations of the dining experience was positive.

People received effective care from staff who had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Although some staff had not received supervision in line with the providers policy, staff spoken with felt supported by their managers.

Staff monitored people’s health and well-being and made sure they had access to other healthcare professionals according to their individual needs.

People’s rights were protected because the correct procedures were followed where people lacked capacity to make specific decisions for themselves.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring. Staff spoke positively about people; they demonstrated empathy and were able to tell us about people’s likes, dislikes and what was important to them.

People received care that was responsive to their needs and personalised to their wishes and preferences. Some of the care plans had not been updated following a change in people’s needs; this did not impact on the care people received.

People had access to a range of organised activities and events which provided them with mental and social stimulation. There were links with the local community and the manager was looking at ways to increase these.

People could be confident that at the end of their lives they would be cared for with kindness and compassion and their comfort would be maintained.

There were procedures in place to manage complaints. Where complaints had been raised these were responded to and action was taken where required. The manager and provider treated complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service, seek people’s views and make on-going improvements.