Archived: Beacongate

Updated 24 January 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 is 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.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service which included statutory notifications we had received in the last 12 months and the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form we asked the provider to complete prior to our visit which gives us some key information about the service, including what the service does well, what they could do better and improvements they plan to make.

One inspector undertook the inspection. The inspection took place on 23 November 2016 and was unannounced.

During our inspection we spoke with the operations manager, the registered manager, the deputy manager and three staff members. We met four people who used the service and we conducted observations throughout the inspection as some people were unable to speak with us. We looked at two people’s care records, two staff files and other documents which related to the management of the service, such as medicine records, training records and policies and procedures. After the inspection we spoke with two relatives of people using the service.

Updated 24 January 2017

We visited Beacongate on 23 November 2016. The inspection was unannounced.

Beacongate is a residential care service that provides accommodation for up to five individuals with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection five people were using the service. At our last inspection in April 2014 the service was meeting the regulations inspected. During this inspection we learned the service was due to merge with two other services run by the same provider and move to a new purpose built building during 2017.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

Staff helped make sure people were safe at Beacongate and in the community by looking at the risks they may face and by taking steps to reduce those risks.

There were enough staff to support people to live a full, active and independent life as possible and staff and managers were able to offer support when required from an adjacent home under the same provider. People were cared for by staff who received appropriate training and support to do their job well. Staff felt supported by their manager.

People were offered choices, supported to feel involved and staff knew how to communicate effectively with each individual according to their needs. People were relaxed and comfortable in the company of staff. Staff supported people in a way which was kind, caring, and respectful.

Staff helped people to keep healthy and well, they supported people to attend appointments with GP’s and other healthcare professionals when they needed to. Medicines were stored safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed. People were involved in their food and drink choices and meals were prepared taking account of people’s health, cultural and religious needs.

Care records focused on people as individuals and gave clear information to people and staff using a variety of photographs, easy to read and pictorial information. People were appropriately supported by staff to make decisions about their care and support needs. These were reviewed with them regularly by staff.

Staff encouraged people to follow their own activities and interests. Relatives told us they felt comfortable raising any concerns they had with staff and knew how to make a complaint if needed.

The provider regularly sought people’s and staff’s views about how the care and support they received could be improved. There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service that people experienced.