25 January 2019
During a routine inspection
The home is registered to provide accommodation and support for four people aged 18 years and over who experience mental health problems. On the day of inspection there were four people living at the home.
At our last inspection we rated the service overall as good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the overall rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.
Beech Street 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.
At the time of our inspection the home had a 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.
Most people told us they felt safe living at Beech Street. Appropriate action had been taken in response to one person who did not feel this was the case. Staff had received safeguarding training and knew how to report abuse. No new staff had been recruited since our last inspection, so we were unable to look at this.
Medicines were well managed by support workers who administered for one person, whilst the other three people booked out a weeks supply and self-administered. This was part of their objectives for independent living. Staff had received medication training and had been observed as competent.
The service used the recovery star model which identified people’s history, what support they needed and set objectives. People confirmed they were involved in designing and reviewing their star recovery model. Risks to people had been assessed, monitored and reviewed.
The staff team were a strength of this service. People told us support workers were non-judgemental about their situation, this was particularly evident where one person had a relapse. We observed support workers showing kindness, patience and guidance for people as they were becoming more independent. Support workers respected people’s privacy and dignity and people confirmed this always happened.
Staff were supported through a regular programme of supervision and appraisal. The registered manager cared about the welfare of support workers who told us they felt well supported. Support workers received the necessary skills and knowledge through their training programme to provide effective care.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People were able to choose what they wanted to eat and drink. Access to healthcare was evident through our observations and care records we looked at. People’s religious needs were being met.
People were prevented from becoming socially isolated. They were free to access the local community and records showed people were involved in day centres and other groups.
Regular house and staff meetings were taking place. A satisfaction survey had gone out shortly before our inspection. A system of audits were effective, although we found the operational visit record required improvement.
No complaints had been received since our last inspection. People were happy with the care they received and were complimentary about staff.