Beauchamp House Nursing Home

Updated 9 September 2022

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by 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.

Service and service type

Beauchamp House Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Beauchamp House Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spent time observing care and support in the communal areas of the home and in people’s individual rooms. We observed how staff interacted with people who used the service. We spoke with 21 people that were using the service and five relatives. We spent time with the registered manager and deputy manager during the inspection and spoke with ten staff, which included, nurses, care staff, activities coordinator, maintenance, housekeeping and the cook. We also spoke with two agency staff working at the home and two visiting GPs to ask their views about the service.

We looked at the care records for eight people. We checked that the care they received matched the information in their records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service and a sample of the electronic medicine’s administration records.

We contacted five health and social care professionals to ask their views and received a response from one of them.

Updated 9 September 2022

Beauchamp House Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 54 people. At the time of the inspection there were 39 people living at the service. Two of these people were staying for a period of respite and two people were in hospital.

Beauchamp House is large detached Georgian manor house with modern extensions set in its own grounds, located in the village of Hatch Beauchamp near the market town of Taunton.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were safe and appeared happy with the service they received. One person told us, “I am happy they are looking after me and come in to check on me often."

We found the home did not always provide a safe environment for people, regarding ongoing renovation works at the home. Action was taken to improve the safety of the environment during the renovation work.

People received their medicines safely from trained competent staff and in line with their prescriptions. Staff followed good infection control practices.

There were enough numbers of safely recruited staff with the right skills available to support people. Improvements were made following the inspection regarding staff response times to call bells as people were not having their needs met promptly. Action was also taken during the inspection to improve monitoring of agency staff working at the home to ensure they were working to meet people’s needs.

Improvements were being made to the menu at the home giving people more choice and a better mealtime experience.

Staff knew people well and we observed staff being kind and compassionate towards the people they supported. However, at times staff did not ensure people’s dignity and privacy. Action was taken by the management team to improve this.

People’s care plans were detailed and personalised on the providers electronic care system. People’s wishes and preferences regarding end of life were recorded within care plans if they had chosen to discuss this.

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 had access to health care, this included a weekly visit by health care professionals linked to the GP practice.

A team of activity coordinators ran a schedule of activities and events although these were not always meaningful activities. The registered manager had identified improvements were required and was working with the activity team to improve the activity provision at the home. This included giving people a reason to use the communal spaces throughout the day to interact and socialise other than just for lunch.

People knew the registered manager and knew how to raise a concern.

People and staff were asked their views and kept informed.

The provider had systems in place to monitor, manage and improve service delivery and to improve the care and support provided to people. However, there were a few areas we identified at the inspection which their quality monitoring processes had not identified. Although they took action to address these issues, we have made a recommendation to the provider to look at their system to assess and monitor the service to ensure they are robust and cover all aspects of the service.

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 this service was good, (published 15 August 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.