We carried out a review of the data available to us about Benton Care Services Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Benton Care Services Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Benton Care Services is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 13 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 13 people. Accommodation is provided in three adjoining terraced houses.
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service was exceptionally caring. Professionals and relatives repeatedly described the staff as excellent, fabulous or brilliant. People were extremely well-cared for by staff who took pride in ensuring people were well-dressed and supported to enjoy good relationships. Relatives had significant levels of trust in the service. Staff were motivated to work together and provide people with the best care.
Suitable arrangements were in place to keep people safe. People’s personal risks were well-managed and regular checks were carried out on the environment and the vehicles used by the service to make sure people were safe. The provider carried out pre-employment checks on staff. Medicines were administered in a safe manner. The registered manager and staff were open to learning lessons to improve the service.
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 this practice.
People chose the meals they would like to eat. Specific diets were catered for including when people went out on picnics.
Care plans were very detailed and included people’s preferences and wishes. They were regularly reviewed. End-of-life plans were in place.
The service had a complaints procedure. Relatives told us they had never had to make a complaint or raise a concern. Not everyone could make a verbal complaint. Staff understood how people communicated and addressed their wishes if they expressed any dissatisfaction.
The registered manager and the staff worked in partnership with other professionals to meet people’s needs. Staff felt well-supported by the registered manager.
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
The registered manager had checks in place to measure the quality of the service. The staff had good working relationships with other professionals to support people’s care. People accessed community facilities.
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 for this service was good (report published 6 June 2017).
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 re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Benton Care Services was registered with CQC in November 2015 when the current owner bought the service. The registered provider and the registered manager are the same person. This was the first inspection of Benton Care Services under this registered provider. Staff moved over to the new service and people who used the service remained in the same home. The service is divided into three separate houses which are located next door to each other, in a row of terraced houses. Two of the houses accommodate up to three people whilst the third house accommodates up to seven people. At the time of our inspection there were 13 people using the service.
There was 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.
We found there were regular checks carried out on the home to ensure people were living in a safe environment. Staff carried out cleaning duties and the home was immaculate.
Staff understood how to protect people from harm and had undertaken safeguarding training. Staff knew the risks to people and ensured they put in place actions to prevent any harm from coming to people who used the service.
We found there was enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs. People were given prompt attention and knew which members of staff were coming on duty. The registered manager told us they did not use agency staff to ensure people received care from staff they knew well.
Staff had been trained in the administration of medicines and had been assessed by the registered manager as being competent. We saw the service managed people’s medicines in a safe way. We found people had plans in place for medicines which were required as and when, these included guidance to staff on changes in people’s behaviourwhen they were in pain.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required by law to monitor the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and to report on what we find. MCA is a law that protects and supports people who do not have the ability to make their own decisions and to ensure decisions are made in their 'best interests'. We found the provider was complying with their legal requirements.
Where restrictions on people's liberty were in place to keep them safe, applications had been made to the local authority to grant Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in line with legal requirements.
People's needs had been assessed and specific and detailed care plans had been created to ensure all staff had access to information about people's needs. The registered manager told us they were in the process of reviewing everyone’s care plans to ensure they were more person centred.
The service had in place its own transport. Regular checks were carried out on a mini bus, a car and one person’s personal vehicle. Relatives told us people who used the service were taken out on regular outings. During our inspection we saw people were happy to go out together and, on their return, told us about what they had seen. We found staff knew people’s activity preferences and were able to meet them in the service.
People's rights to make choices were respected. The staff team were established and knew people well, but we observed the staff continued to offer people choices.
Relatives told us about how caring the staff were towards the people who used the service. Feedback from professionals echoed the comments made by the relatives and explained the warm relationships between people and the staff.
The registered manager had a visible presence in the home and set the standards of care for the staff. Relatives felt the registered manager was approachable and were confident they would deal with any concerns they had.
We saw there were systems and processes in place which monitored the quality of the service. These included regular auditing of the service and surveys carried out to seek the views of professionals and relatives. The registered manager sought advice from professionals regarding the capacity of people who used the service before seeking their feedback with an adapted survey form.
We found the registered manager held staff meetings and had used the meetings to discuss improvements to the service.