Bendigo Nursing Home

Updated 3 August 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:

There were two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Their area of expertise included dementia care.

Service and service type: Bendigo Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Bendigo Nursing Home is registered to accommodate up to 25 people.

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. The registered manager was present during the inspection.

Notice of inspection: The inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection:

We reviewed information we have received about the service. This included details about incidents that the provider must notify us about. We used information including complaints that we had received to help us to plan this inspection. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection:

We spoke with nine people living at the home and three relatives. We spoke with five members of staff, and the registered manager.

We looked at six people's care records. We observed how medicines were administered and looked at medicine records. We looked at records of accidents, incidents and complaints. We looked at audits and quality assurance records. We looked at three staff files, training records and staff rotas.

Updated 3 August 2019

About the service: Bendigo Nursing Home is a residential care home that was providing personal and nursing care to 25 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: The service was Good.

People told us they felt safe living at the home. One person said, “I am very happy here, I feel safe and there is no sign of abuse.” Risks to people were assessed and managed effectively. Staff understood their responsibility for safeguarding people and knew how to report abuse. There were enough suitable staff to care for people safely and the provider had robust recruitment procedures. People’s medicines were administered safely and infection control procedures were robust. Incidents were recorded and monitored and lessons were learned when things went wrong.

People told us they had confidence in the skills of the staff. Staff received the training and support they needed. Staff understood their responsibilities regarding the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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. People’s needs were assessed in a holistic way taking account of people’s diverse needs and their preferences. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and to access health care support when needed.

Staff were kind and caring. People had developed positive relationships with staff who knew them well. A relative told us, “The staff are excellent, it gives us great peace of mind.” Staff involved people in making decisions about their care and support. Staff maintained people’s privacy and treated them with dignity and respect.

Care was provided in a person-centred way. People were supported to maintain contact with people who were important to them. Staff were responsive to people’s needs and ensured that people’s information and communication needs were met. People were encouraged to access activities and to maintain their interests. People were confident that any complaints would be addressed. Staff supported people to plan for end of life care and respected their wishes.

People, their relatives and staff said that the home was well-led and spoke highly of the management of the home. There were a range of systems to monitor standards and to improve the quality of the service. People and their relatives told us their feedback was listened to. The provider shared information in an open and accessible way. Staff worked collaboratively with other organisations to meet people’s needs.

Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was Good (published August 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on previous rating.

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

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