• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Blyth House

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

16 Blyth Road, Bromley, Kent, BR1 3RX (020) 8460 3070

Provided and run by:
Chislehurst Care Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 20 May 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 team was made up of one inspector 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. The site visit was carried out by one inspector. The Expert by Experience made phone calls to relatives on the day of the inspection.

Service and service type

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

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 safeguarding referrals and notifications of significant events. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

Some people were unable to verbally express their views about their care, so we made observations of the care provided and we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We also spoke with two people living at the service. The Expert by Experience spoke with five people’s relatives by telephone to seek their feedback on the care and support their loved ones received.

We met and spoke with the registered manager, registered nurse, two care staff and an activity coordinator. We reviewed a range of records, including three people’s care records and eight medicines records. We looked at three staff files in relation to staff recruitment and supervision, and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including monitoring checks and audits.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 20 May 2022

About the service

Blythe House is a nursing home that provides personal and nursing care support for up to 16 people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people living at the service.

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

People were safeguarded against the risk of abuse and harm. Safeguarding procedures were in place and the registered manager and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures and how to respond to concerns appropriately. There were systems in place that ensured the handling and responding to complaints was managed appropriately. There were systems in place that enabled good oversight of the management of the service and to monitor the quality of care that people received.

Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were enough staff to meet people's needs safely. Medicines were managed safely. The provider and staff followed current government guidance in relation to infection prevention and control.

People's care and support needs were assessed before they started using the service and care plans were in place to ensure staff could support them safely. Staff received training relevant to people's care needs. People received appropriate care and support from staff to maintain a healthy balanced diet.

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 requires improvement (published 6 November 2020).

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this unannounced focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Blyth House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.