Archived: Beechmere

Updated 4 May 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats and specialist housing. It provides a service to mainly older adults.

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:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit to ensure that the registered manager would be available to assist us.

Inspection site visit activity started on 11 April 2019 and ended on 12 April 2019. We visited the office location on 11 April 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We talked to people who used the service and their relatives on the 12th April 2019.

What we did: Our plan took into account information the provider sent us since the last inspection. We also considered information about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we looked at issues raised in complaints and how the service responded to them. We obtained information from the local authority commissioners and safeguarding team and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with six people who used the service and one relative.

We also spoke with the registered manager, operations director, deputy manager and three members of staff. We looked at six people's care records and a selection of medication and medication administration (MARs). We looked at other records including quality monitoring records, five recruitment and a training matrix for all staff.

Updated 4 May 2019

About the service: Beechmere is a domiciliary care service that was providing personal care to 50 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service supports people living in their own apartments within a supported living complex.

People’s experience of using this service: People were supported safely. The potential hazards that people faced during their support and from the wider environment was always taken into account. Medication administration was robust and person- centred. Staff always arrived on time and provided support within the agreed timescale. People felt safe with the staff team and trusted them.

People told us that staff were knowledgeable and knew what they were doing. Staff received the training they needed to perform their role and received supervision so that they could discuss work practice as well as professional development. Sufficient measures were in place to enable new staff to become familiar with and be prepared for their role. The nutritional needs of people were met. People were always asked to give their consent before support was given.

Without exception, people told us that they were supported in respectful and friendly way with staff respecting the fact that they were visiting a person’s home. Support was provided in a patient and unhurried manner with an emphasis on maintaining people’s privacy and dignity. The communication needs of people were taken into account with staff taking the time to ensure that people were able to express themselves and make their needs known.

Support was provided in a person-centred way. People who used the service were able to contribute and be in control of the ways in which they were supported. People did not have any complaints but felt confident that any issues would be listened to and acted upon.

People felt they received a well-run service. The registered manager was very familiar with the individual needs of people and was very visible and available to all people. The registered manager was seen as approachable and supportive to the staff team. The registered provider had robust quality assurance processes in place to measure the quality of support given. The views of people who used the service and their relatives were listened to. People told us that they felt involved, in control and were listened to. The registered provider worked closely with other agencies to ensure positive outcomes for people and to maximise their independence.

Rating at last inspection: The service was rated as requires good at our last inspection in August 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains good overall.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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