Beechfields

Updated 22 January 2019

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.

The inspection took place on 03 January 2019 and was unannounced.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using similar services or caring for older family members.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also looked at information we held about the agency, such as notifications. Notifications are changes, events or incidents which the provider is required to tell us by law. We used all this information including the PIR to plan our inspection.

As part of the inspection, we spoke with one of the providers, one care worker and one senior care worker providing direct support. We spoke with three people who lived in the service. We also contacted healthcare professionals involved in the service. We did not receive any feedback from healthcare professionals contacted.

We observed staff interactions with people and observed care and support in communal areas. We also spoke with two relatives.

During the inspection visit, we reviewed a variety of documents. These included two people’s care records, which included care plans, health care notes, risk assessments and daily records. We also looked at two staff recruitment files and records relating to the management of the service, such as satisfaction surveys, staff rotas, policies and procedures.

We asked the provider to send additional information after the inspection visit, including training records and completed service audits.

The information we requested was sent to us in a timely manner.

Updated 22 January 2019

This inspection took place on 03 January 2019 and was unannounced.

Beechfields 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.

Beechfields is a registered care home providing accommodation, personal care and support for up to nine older people. It is situated in a rural area approximately two miles from the town of Sittingbourne in Kent. The accommodation was comfortable and home like, was on one level and had been purpose built to meet people's needs. All the rooms had on-suite shower facilities. At the time of the inspection, eight people lived in the service.

There was a registered manager employed at the service. A 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. The registered manager was not present during the inspection, this was conducted with Mrs Saffrey, who is joint provider of the service with the registered manager and in day-to-day charge of the care being delivered.

At the last inspection the service had an overall rating of ‘Good’. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed. At this inspection, we found the service remained overall ‘good.’

At our inspection on 03 June 2016 we made two recommendations to assist the provider to further improve the quality of their service. One was in relation to the provider's policy about emergency planning and the other was about the management of risk around the monitoring of potential waterborne viruses. At this inspection, we found that the provider had taken actions on our recommendations.

Risks continued to be appropriately assessed and mitigated to ensure people were safe. Medicines were managed safely and people had received their medicines as prescribed. Staff knew what they should do to identify and raise safeguarding concerns. The provider knew their responsibilities in relation to keeping people safe from harm.

Effective systems continued to be in place to enable the provider to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. Accident and incident records were closely monitored, actions were taken in a timely manner to ensure lessons were learnt.

People were happy with their care and support. Staff had built up good relationships with people. The service provided good quality care and support to people enabling them to live as fulfilled and meaningful lives as possible. Staff were caring and kind in their approach and had a good rapport with people. People told us they were treated with dignity and respect. People’s privacy was respected.

People were asked about their needs relating to culture, race, religion and sexual orientation in their assessment. This was recorded in their care plan and staff were aware of this.

There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs. The provider continued to operate a safe and robust recruitment and selection procedure to make sure staff were suitable and safe to work with people. Staff received training, which enabled them to meet people’s needs. They also received support and supervision to enable them to carry out their roles safely.

People were encouraged to make their own choices about everyday matters. People’s decisions and choices were respected. People's care plans clearly detailed their care and support needs. People were fully involved with the care planning process. The service had developed care plans which clearly detailed people’s preferences, likes, dislikes, mental health and social needs. Care had been delivered in line with people’s choices. The provider reviewed each person’s care with each person as and when necessary.

People continued to be supported and helped to maintain their health and to access health services when they needed them. The provider and staff maintained good communication with other organisations such as the community nursing service, GP and other healthcare services.

People were given information about how to complain. People were actively involved in improving the service. They completed feedback surveys and had regular meetings with the providers.

Staff were positive about the support they received from the management team. They felt they could raise concerns and they would be listened to.

The provider continued to build links with other healthcare professionals and work closely with them.