Brighton & Hove City Council - The Beach House

Updated 12 January 2023

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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

Brighton and Hove City Council – The Beach House 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. Brighton and Hove City Council – The Beach House is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 18 November 2022 and ended on 22 November 2022. We visited the service on 18 November 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 spoke with two people who used the service about their experience and observed interactions between staff and people. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, support workers and the cook. We looked at five care plans and reviewed other documentation used in the running of the service, including quality assurance and training records. We spoke with four relatives over the telephone about their experience of the care provided.

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.

Updated 12 January 2023

About the service

Brighton and Hove City Council – The Beach House is a residential care home providing personal care to five people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 14 people living with a learning disability and/or a physical disability. The service provides short breaks or respite service where people can have weekend or midweek breaks. The service also provides emergency placements for people who are in crisis in the community.

The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 14 people. This is larger than current best practice guidance. However. the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

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

People and their relatives told us they felt safe being supported by staff and that staff had the skills and experience to support them appropriately.

We identified some areas of practice that need improvement. Quality assurance systems had been introduced and were continuing to be developed and improved. This included audits of medicines, infection control, and health and safety. However other systems of quality monitoring had not yet been implemented, such as the monitoring of training, supervision and appraisal of staff. Further time was needed to fully embed these into day to day practice. Staff told us they were well supported and could speak with managers about any issues or concerns they had. However, the providers formal system for staff supervision had not been maintained, and routine supervision had not gone ahead for staff for some time.

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 expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture.

Right Support: Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and Independence

People were supported by staff to work towards their individual goals and objectives. During their stay at the Beach House, staff encouraged and supported people to live as independently as possible and to have control over their lives. People were encouraged to express their views using a variety of communication methods and staff actively sought feedback which was discussed with individuals.

Right Care: Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights

People who used the service and their relatives told us they felt supported kind and caring staff. Staff knew people well and ensured they were supported with their social and care needs in a person-centred way.

Right Culture: Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

The culture of the service was open, inclusive and empowered individuals to express their views on how the service was run. People and relatives told us they felt confident and were supported to manage potential risks, for example when they accessed the local community. People who used the service and their relatives were complimentary of staff and the leadership 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 was for this service was Good (report published 31 October 2019). The overall rating for the service has remained Good based on the findings of this inspection.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.