We carried out a review of the data available to us about Birkenhead Court on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Birkenhead Court, you can give feedback on this service.
Birkenhead Court is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 60 people. At the time of the inspection 58 were receiving support. The service primarily provides support to people with dementia and has four units with their own facilities.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Risk assessments now held appropriate information. Feedback we received from people and their relatives was positive. Care plans and risk assessments were person centred and they detailed how people wished and needed to be cared for. They were regularly reviewed and updated as required. We saw evidence of how the registered manager and staff ensured people beliefs, choices and rights were respected.
The recruitment of staff was safe and there were enough staff on duty on the day of inspection to meet people's needs. Risks to people's health and safety had been assessed and mitigated and equipment had been serviced and maintained. Accidents and incidents were recorded and reviewed in order to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.
There were a range of effective provider and manager quality assurance processes in place, the provider had learnt lessons from the previous inspection and improved service delivery.
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 received support in a caring, responsive and patient manner. People were comfortable in the presence of staff and positive relationships had developed. Relatives told us, “I would say they are super and outstanding, a great home”, and “Well its very comfortable and kind and very considerate.”
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: The last rating for the service under the previous registered provider was requires improvement, (published on 24 November 2021) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation.
Why we inspected
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.
The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Birkenhead Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Birkenhead Court is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 54 people living with dementia at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 60 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Risk assessments were not always in place to guide staff on how to safely support people with specific health conditions. Medicines were managed mostly safely and securely, however some issues had been found with documentation for ‘as and when’ prescribed medication.
There were a range of provider and manager audits in place, however some aspects of the care service needed to be reviewed further following this inspection.
Feedback received from relatives was positive regarding the care being delivered to people living in the home. It was observed during the inspection that people were comfortable and happy in the presence of staff who interacted with them in a caring and patient manner.
Systems and processes were in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and relatives told us they felt their loved ones were safe with staff. GPs and other healthcare professionals were contacted for advice about people’s health needs whenever necessary and in a timely manner.
Accidents, incidents, safeguarding and complaints were managed appropriately and monitored by the management. Infection control standards were also monitored and managed appropriately. A family member told us “It’s light, bright and clean and a very warm, friendly down to earth place.”
Staff were recruited into their roles safely and there were enough staff available to meet people's day to day needs. The provider was in the process of recruiting a registered manager and had recently recruited two new deputy managers.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection; The last rating for this service was outstanding (published 12 October 2018).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about medicines and service delivery. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.
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. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from outstanding to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Birkenhead Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
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.
We have identified breaches in relation to assessing risks relating to the health, safety and welfare of people at this inspection.
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 for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.