Bedford Care Home

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

People were supported to stay well and access medical professionals as and when required. People received enough to eat and drink, with modified diets, such as soft or pureed meals being provided in line with guidance. Staff documented people’s food and fluid intake, although this was not always done in a timely way.

This service scored 54 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Assessing needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

People were supported to access medical professionals as and when required, in order to ensure their health needs were met. This included access to a GP, district nurse, Speech and Language Therapist or dietitian. We asked people and relatives about the support provided for people to stay well. Comments included, “Yes, [relative] is very much supported. They get a doctor if he is unwell. He is prone to infections and they are helping with this. Staff are quick to notice when he is not himself” and “The doctor comes every week and if needed would be called straight away.” People told us they received enough to eat and drink, with snacks available should they want these. However, some commented on a lack of variety, especially for the evening meal. Comments included, “The food is quite nice; the lunches are alright but at tea time it is always soup and sandwiches” and “It’s alright I am not a faddy eater, we get enough to eat, we get snacks and drinks during the day.”

People’s care records detailed any nutritional needs, including whether they required a modified diet, such as softer food options and thickened fluids. Food and fluid charts were used to document intake. Overall, completion of these charts was good. However, records indicated some people had to wait long periods after getting up, before they received a drink and/or food. For example, on the first day of assessment one person had risen at 7.35am, but the first record of any food or fluid being provided was 11.24am, when records stated they had eaten breakfast. We observed this person eating breakfast before 10am, which suggests records were being made retrospectively, and therefore the times of any intake were misleading. We reported this to the provider during the assessment. Improvements with record keeping was already an action on their improvement plan.

We did not look at How staff, teams and services work together during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Supporting people to live healthier lives during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Monitoring and improving outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.

We did not look at Consent to care and treatment during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Effective.