16 August 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Bymead House is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 30 people. The service provides support to older people and people who have a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 28 people using the service.
Bymead House is an extended premises occupying a large plot with accessible grounds. There is a passenger lift and accessible bathrooms to enable access throughout the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We have made recommendations about medicines, staff supervision, and storage of confidential information. Throughout the inspection we mentioned any areas of concern found and all were immediately improved, if not completely addressed, a detailed action plan was devised.
There was mixed feedback about meal provision, people and their relatives were involved in giving regular feedback about meals.
We made a recommendation about data storage as we were not assured information in an office had been properly secured. We looked into numerous concerns that had been raised about the service and while able to corroborate some, for others we were not able to find evidence to prove or disprove them.
Not all staff had participated in 1-to-1 staff supervision, and supervisions were not seen as effective. We have made a recommendation to review best practice guidance and update procedures accordingly.
Medicines were safely administered, and audits ensured oversight of the process. There were some improvements required around risk assessments and storage, we have made a recommendation about this.
Accidents and incidents were recorded, and actions taken both to minimise future occurrences and to ascertain any patterns that could inform risk management.
Staff completed training in safeguarding and both people and their relatives felt the service was safe. Staff were safely recruited and, before commencing in post, induction and mandatory training was completed. The premises were very clean and use of PPE and visiting was in line with current guidance.
Peoples’ needs were assessed before being admitted to the service and a procedure of clinical review of assessments prior to admission was in place to ensure only those who’s needs could be met were admitted.
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.
We received mostly positive feedback about the service and the management team, and the provider was developing new quality assurance questionnaires to issue to people, staff, and relatives so they could benchmark people’s opinions 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
The last rating for this service under a previous legal entity was good (published 8 June 2018). The service remains rated good.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We were not able to corroborate most of the concerns raised with us.
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.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bymead House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Recommendations
We have made recommendations in 3 areas following our inspection. We have asked the provider to review data storage, staff supervision and medicines administration, and make improvements as needed.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.