Belgravia Care Home

About the service

Belgravia Care Home is a care home providing personal care to 24 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 25 people with a variety of needs, including people living with dementia and/or mental health challenges.

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

Some areas of the home required cleaning and not all window restrictors met the guidance of the Health and Safety Executive. Audits and checks did not consistently drive improvement.

People’s medicine management required improvement and two care records would have benefitted from more information. We have made a recommendation regarding the safe management of medicines and person centred care records.

People told us they felt safe and they were supported by staff who helped them quickly if they needed this. One person commented, “I don’t need a lot of help but if I do, staff are there for me.” Checks were completed to help ensure prospective staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Risk assessments were carried out to help minimise the risk of avoidable harm and staff knew the help and support people needed. A person told us, “I trust the staff, they look after me.”

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 were cared for by staff who were caring, competent and knowledgeable about people's needs. Staff told us training and supervision was arranged to ensure they had the skills to carry out their role. People told us they were happy at the home and they felt cared for. They explained the food was good, enjoyable activities were arranged, and they were supported to access medical advice if they needed this.

People were treated with dignity and respect and staff we spoke with us told us how they respected people and ensured their privacy and dignity was maintained. Care was person centred, met people's needs and expert health advice was sought if this was needed.

Staff told us they felt supported by the management team and they were able to approach them if they needed support and guidance. People told us the management team were approachable and they could talk to them if they wished to.

People were consulted and asked their views on the service provided. Surveys had been completed by people who lived at the home. People told us they were happy at the home and were confident any comments or complaints they made would be listened to.

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 and update

This service was registered with us on 15 March 2021 and this is the first comprehensive inspection. We carried out a focused inspection between 11 August 2021 and 16 August 2021 to look at the domains safe and well-led. We did not provide an overall rating for the service.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to check the safety and quality of care people received and provide an overall rating for the service.

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.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed. We have identified breaches in relation to the appropriateness of window restrictors and effectiveness of audit system.

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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Belgravia Care Home is a care home providing personal care and assistance. It is registered to provide 24-hour care and support to up to 25 people who are living with dementia and /or physical disability and mental health challenges. At the time of the inspection 23 people were receiving support. The home is set over six floors and there is a lift for people to access if this is needed.

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

People told us they felt safe and they were supported by staff who helped them quickly if they needed this. Staffing had recently been increased after feedback from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. We have made a recommendation about the way in which staffing numbers can be calculated.

Checks were completed to help ensure prospective staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Risk assessments were carried out to help minimise the risk of avoidable harm and staff knew the help and support people needed. Medicines were managed safely. Two relatives told us they had no concerns with the care and support their family member's received.

Staff wore personal protective equipment to help minimise the risk and spread of infection and people were enabled to access appropriate vaccinations to help maintain their well-being. Cleaning took place to help ensure the environment remain hygienic.

Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and they were able to approach them if they needed support and guidance. People told us the registered manager was approachable. One person described the registered manager as, "chatty."

People were consulted and asked their views on the service provided. Surveys had been completed by people who lived at the home. People told us they were happy at the home and were confident any comments or complaints they made would be listened to. One person said of the home, "It's very relaxed."

People could not be assured governance systems were consistently effective to drive improvements at the home.

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: This service was registered with us on 15/03/2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was requires improvement, published on 20/03/2021.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of staffing and fire safety. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them.

We have not provided an overall rating for the service. This was because we looked at only the key questions of safe and well-led.

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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, and well-led sections of this full report.

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

Follow up

We will work alongside the provider and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.