Beechwood Residential Care Home

Beechwood is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Beechwood accommodates up 38 people in one purpose build building across four separate units, each of which have separate adapted facilities. One of the units specialises in providing care to people living with dementia. There were 28 people living at the home at the time of the inspection. This was because one unit was closed for refurbishment.

A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were supported to have their medicines and checks were undertaken to ensure these were administered as prescribed. Some creams left unsecured were removed once we brought this to the attention of staff.

Infection control procedures were in place although there were incidents when these were not always met which could potentially place people at risk.

Due to recent staff shortages the permanent staff were supported by agency staff. The provider had held recruitment drives to cover the vacancies. They were determined to recruit the right staff to ensure they could care and meet the needs of people who live at the home. Checks were made on the suitability of staff.

People were cared for by the staff who had knowledge of how to keep people safe and what to do if they believed people to be at risk. People's wishes were taken into account to ensure people's preferred life styles were met.

People's needs were assessed before they moved into the home and these were reviewed as to ensure they could be met. Healthcare professionals were involved in people's care and support so decisions could be made about their needs. Staff ensured people had enough to eat and encouraged people to drink. People were complimentary about the food provided. Where concerns were identified these were brought to the attention of healthcare professionals.

Staff were supported by their managers and received the training they needed to provide the care and support people required to keep them safe and maintain their wellbeing.

People were supported to have maximum choice about their lives and were supported in the least restrictive way possible. Staff spent time with people talking about important things in their life and had developed a caring relationship. People were encouraged to make decisions about their day to day life. People's privacy and dignity was respected.

People were encouraged to take part in fun and interesting things while at the home. People were confident their views would be acted upon.

The provider was working to make improvements in the home in areas such as staffing as well as in refurbishment.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found