The Bellingham Residential Care Home

Updated 10 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:

One adult social care inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

Bellingham Residential Care 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.

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:

The inspection was unannounced. We did not tell people who lived at The Bellingham Residential Care Home, relatives, the registered provider, registered manager or staff when we would be visiting.

What we did:

Before our inspection, we checked the information we held about The Bellingham Residential Care Home. This included notifications the registered provider sent us about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people who received support.

We also contacted the commissioning and contracts departments at Lancashire County Council and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is the local consumer champion for health and social care services. They give consumers a voice by collecting their views, concerns and compliments through their engagement work. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced when they received support at The Bellingham Residential Care Home.

We looked at information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is 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. All the information gathered before our inspection went into completing our planning document that guides the inspection. The planning document allows key lines of enquiry to be investigated focusing on any current concerns, areas of risk and good or outstanding practice.

As part of the inspection process we walked around the building to carry out a visual check. We did this to ensure the home was clean, hygienic and a safe place for people to live. We activated the call bell twice times during our visit to assess staff availability and response times. We spent time watching day to day activities, communication, relationships and care practices taking place. We did this to assess the quality of interactions that took place between people living in the home and the staff who supported them.

We spoke with two people who lived at The Bellingham Residential Care Home and two relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, quality and compliance manager, the care manager, two care staff and the cook. We also spoke with a volunteer and a visiting health professional. We looked at the care records of three people, training and recruitment records of two staff members, records related to the storage and administration of medicines and the management of the service.

We looked at what quality audit tools and data management systems the provider had. We used all the information gathered to inform our judgements about the fundamental standards of quality and safety of the service delivered by The Bellingham Residential Care Home.

Updated 10 May 2019

About the service: The Bellingham Residential Care Home is a residential care home that was registered to provide personal care for 15 people. When we inspected 11 older people, some of whom were living with dementia, were living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe at Bellingham Residential Care Home. Relatives stated they believed their family members were made safe by the care they received. Staff told us they had appropriate training, knowledge and support to keep people safe. Staff told us how they managed risk in a way that respected the person and supported their dignity.

People and their relatives felt confident in the management. They told us there was a caring culture within the home and staffing levels were appropriate. One person told us, “I’ve never had to wait for anything.”

It was clear staff morale was good and everyone was committed to ensuring people received care and support based on their preferences and life choices.

People expressed positive views on how staff treated them. Observations during our inspection showed people were respected and care and support was delivered in a dignified manner with consent being sought before any actions were taken.

Care plans had been developed with people and their relatives being involved throughout the process. These were regularly reviewed to reflect people’s current needs and preferences. People were supported in activities of their choice within the home and within the local community.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required. People received their medicines as prescribed and when needed and appropriate records had been completed.

The registered manager used the same safe recruitment procedures we found at our last inspection. Staff told us training was ongoing and they were supported to gain vocational qualifications in health and social care.

Staff supported people with their meals sensitively and respected their wishes. Everyone we spoke with told us the food was good and the registered manager ensured people always had access to snacks and drinks as and when they requested them.

There was a complaints procedure which was made available to people and their family. People told us they were happy with the support they received. The service continued to have good oversight of relevant procedures through monitoring and auditing to ensure people received effective support and the service was well-led.

The service engaged with outside agencies to ensure people received timely healthcare support. The management team engaged with other agencies to gain updates on legislation, best practice and learn from other providers’ experiences.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated good (published 24 December 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

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 issues or concerns are identified, we may inspect sooner.

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