Bendalls Farm

Updated 7 September 2022

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 two inspectors and a member of the CQC medicines team.

Service and service type

Bendalls Farm 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 the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We contacted the local authority to seek feedback on the provider. 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 all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met all the people living in the home and spoke to four of them about the care they received. We spoke with an agency worker and six members of staff including the team leader, senior carer, lead support worker, support worker, the registered manager and the locality manager.

We spent time observing people.

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

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager and locality manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 7 September 2022

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.

About the service

Bendalls Farm is a care home providing specialist support for people who may have complex and enduring mental health needs, a learning disability, and times of emotional distress. The home is in the Mendip Hills, and forms part of a wider farm development. There are ten bedrooms all with en-suite bathrooms, a large shared lounge with adjoining games room and a large communal dining room with kitchenette. At the time of this inspection eight people lived in the home.

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

Since the last inspection the registered manager had introduced new auditing processes to prevent or manage infection/COVID-19 outbreaks. In addition, the home had been refurbished to improve safety and people’s quality of life.

All four people we spoke with told us they felt safe living at Bendalls Farm. We observed relaxed and natural interactions between people and staff throughout the inspection.

Although staff knew people well and responded to their needs in a timely way there was mixed feedback from staff about staffing levels. The provider was working hard to recruit and retain staff within a challenging context of national staffing shortages in health and social care.

The service had up to date policies and procedures for safeguarding people from abuse and harm. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of what they should do if they were concerned about a person and how to raise this internally and to external agencies such as CQC and the local safeguarding team.

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

Right support

Although 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, we have made a recommendation about mental capacity documentation to ensure it is decision specific.

People were supported to live the life they wanted by staff who knew them well and put them at the centre of decision making. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms.

Right care

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right culture

People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 30 September 2021) and there was a breach in regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns identified during inspection at some of the provider’s other locations. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. During the inspection we also checked they had followed their action plan and whether they were now meeting legal requirements. This report covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well Led which contain those requirements and also the Effective Key Question.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last comprehensive inspection to calculate the overall rating. 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 Bendalls Farm 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.