Archived: Beechwood Specialist Services

Updated 13 April 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 12 and 19 January 2017. The first day of the inspection was unannounced and was undertaken by an adult social care (ASC) inspection manager and an ASC inspector. The second day of the inspection was undertaken by two ASC inspectors.

Prior to our visit we looked at any information we had received about the home including contact from people using the service or their relatives, agencies including the police and social services and any information sent to us by the manager or provider since our last inspection in January 2016.

We spoke individually with 4 of the people living at Beechwood and spent time meeting other people living there. We also spoke with 20 members of staff who held different roles within the home. We also spoke with three visitors to the home.

We looked around the premises and spent time observing the care and support provided to people throughout the day.

We looked at a range of records including eight care plans and a sample of medication records for people living at Beechwood. We also looked at recruitment records for four members of staff and training records for all staff. In addition we looked at records relating to the quality of the service provided.

Updated 13 April 2017

Beechwood Specialist Services is registered to provide accommodation and support for up to sixty adults who require support with their mental and physical health. At the time of this inspection there were 37 people living there.

The building is a large detached property overlooking the River Mersey in Aigburth. It provides people with their own bedroom and shared lounges, dining areas and bathrooms. Due to the size and layout of the building it does not provide a domestic style of living for people. The provider has altered the way the building is used to begin to address this issue.

The home did not have a registered manager. 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. A manager had been appointed who has since applied to register with CQC.

At our last inspection of the home in January 2016 we asked the provider to make improvements with regards to providing safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users and ensuring systems were in place for monitoring the service. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made.

Staff had different approaches to supporting people at different times. We saw some examples of very good individual care provide to people. However we also saw times when staff concentrated on the task they were carrying out and were not as respectful to people as they should be.

Care plans did not always reflect the person’s likes and dislikes and their preferred lifestyle. Staff knew this information but ensuring it was recorded would help to plan activities and occupation with people.

People had mixed views about the support they received with activities and occupying their time. Plans were in place but not yet fully operating to support people with activities and occupation that they enjoyed and would benefit from.

People liked and trusted the staff team. They said they felt confident to raise any concerns or complaints that they had.

Policies and procedures were in place to guide staff on recognising and reporting any safeguarding concerns that arose. Staff knew about these and told us that they would follow them when needed.

A whistle blowing policy was also in place and records showed that the provider took any whistle blowing concerns seriously and acted upon them.

People received the support they need with their medication. Their health care needs were assessed and they were supported to access health advice. Care plans were in place to guide staff on how to meet people’s health care needs.

Procedures for ensuring people were not unduly deprived of their liberty had been followed.

The building was safe and work had taken place to make it a more pleasant environment for people to live in. This had included splitting the home into separate units so people had a smaller living environment with the intention that each unit could specialise in supporting people with different needs.

Robust recruitment procedures were in place and followed to check staff were safe to work with people who may be vulnerable. Staff received training and supervision to help them carry out their role effectively.

The provider ensured they had a clear oversight of the home and how it was operating with clear systems in place for checking the safety and quality of the service and planning improvements.