Clarendon Beechlands

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

At our last inspection, the provider was in breach of Regulation 11 (Consent to Care) and needed to make improvements to the way they managed mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions. At this assessment, the provider, registered manager and staff demonstrated they had made the necessary improvements and this meant the provider was no longer in breach of regulation 11. People were supported to have visits from friends and family. Feedback from another professional was extremely positive about the improvements in outcomes for people. This was also observed by the inspection team. People were supported to access and attend medical appointments, and people received continuity of care when multiple professionals were involved in their support.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were confident that staff and the registered manager knew their needs well. One person told us, “…the manager seems to be very good, and she understands my needs well.”

Staff told us care plans were reflective of people’s current needs, and they had time to read them.

A paid person’s representative (PPR) told us staff were knowledgeable about people, and whenever they had a suggestion to try for a person in relation to their care and treatment, “9 times out 10 the staff have already thought of it, and have tried it. However they are still happy to sit with me and discuss what they tried.”

People were supported to maintain relationships with friends and family members. Visits from relatives were welcome by the service. A relative explained, “The best thing about the house is that me and the family can come and go whenever we want, we can talk to the staff freely, and [name] is content there. I can tell he is finally happy.”

Staff understood national tools such as Malnutrition Universal Scoring Tool (MUST) which support staff to identify and monitor people at risk of malnutrition.

People were weighed regularly and any significant weight loss was reported to the GP. The registered manager provided an example of completing this type of referral recently for a person at the service.

People experienced effective care across a variety of services. One person said, “Staff help me with my medication, there have been no mistakes as far as I am aware. I have a nurse that comes to see me if I need further help.” Another person told us, “The learning disability team are now involved in my care on the advice of my social worker.”

The registered manager explained that Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPN) visit the home to administer depot injections to people who require them, and they work closely with dieticians, occupational therapists, social workers, and PPRs.

We spoke with a PPR who was visiting the service during our assessment. They told us they had been visiting the service for 4 years and had seen “big changes” in the people they support. They advised that people are coming out of their bedrooms more and using the communal areas, and also going outside of the home for shopping.

Once new information about a person’s care and treatment had been decided by another health team, the person’s records were updated to provide clear instruction to staff.

People were supported to book and attend medical appointments. We heard that staff would telephone for the doctor if someone was unwell. One person stated, “Staff make all of my appointments, and they would attend with me if needed. I feel the staff are well trained and allow me to make my own choices.”

The registered manager described how they had recently supported a person to seek an emergency medical appointment, driven them to and from the appointment and reassured the person throughout the process.

When medical appointments were received for people, staff would speak to the person to ask what level of support they would like with the appointment. Sometimes people were happy for staff to come into the appointment with them, other times they just wished to be supported with getting to and from the appointment. Any follow up appointments were diarised to ensure staff rotas had the correct numbers and abilities of staff on shift for the next appointment.

People living at Clarendon Beechlands experienced consistently positive outcomes. The change since our previous inspection in people living at the service was extraordinary. People presented as genuinely happy and comfortable in their environment. One person said, “The best part of the home is that I love the whole experience.” Another person told us, “I basically want to stay here until I reach 100, I always want to live here.”

The registered manager advised they held regular discussions with people to obtain their wishes, goals and aspirations. They operated an open door policy for their office and said, “[People] can come in at any time, to discuss anything to do with their care or support, we are always available and always there for them"

People were encouraged to participate in discussions about their wishes and goals.

People understood their rights around consent to care. Some people needed help with decision making, and where applicable, the service completed comprehensive mental capacity assessments. If the assessment determined the person lacked capacity, a best interest decision was completed which had the person at the centre of the decision.

Staff told us they understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated codes of practice. Staff were competently able to describe people living at the service who could make their own decisions, and those who needed help making some specific decisions.

The provider’s process for assessing people’s mental capacity was effective and robust. When Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were authorised, the provider fulfilled their statutory duty and submitted the relevant notification.