Birkin Lodge

Updated 13 January 2021

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 is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

We received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 22 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 13 January 2021

About the service

Birkin Lodge is registered as a care home with nursing for 50 older people. There were 43 people living in the service at the time of this inspection visit.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

People and their relatives were positive about the service. A person said, “I get on fine with the staff and they’re friendly.” A relative said, "The staff are very good in my eyes and are genuinely kind people.”

People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and received safe care and treatment. Medicines were managed in the right way, there were enough staff on duty and safe recruitment practices were in place. Accidents and near misses had been analysed so lessons could be learned to help avoid preventable accidents. Infection was prevented and controlled and people had been helped to quickly receive medical attention when necessary.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The accommodation met people’s needs and expectations. People were treated with kindness and compassion, their privacy was respected and confidential information was kept private.

People were consulted about their care, had been given information in a user-friendly way and were supported to avoid the risk of social isolation. There were arrangements to resolve complaints and people were treated with compassion at the end of their lives so they had a dignified death.

Quality checks had been completed and people had been consulted about the development of the service. Good team work was encouraged and joint working was promoted.

For more details, please read the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

At the last comprehensive inspection the rating for this service was Good (report published 22 November 2018).

We completed a focused inspection after this because we had received concerning information people were not consistently being kept safe. At the focused inspection we looked at our key questions ‘is the service safe’ and ‘is the service well-led’. The rating for the service was Requires Improvement (published 15 February 2019). The registered provider completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.