This unannounced inspection took place on 24 and 29 August 2017. We last inspected Beaufort Care Home on 10 July 2015. At the inspection in July 2015 we rated the home as ‘Good’ overall and for the domains of ‘Effective’, ‘Caring’, ‘Responsive’ and ‘Well-led’. We rated the home as ‘Requires Improvement’ for the ‘Safe’ domain as we made a recommendation about staffing levels and how these potentially affected people’s social needs.Beaufort Care Home is on a main road position in Burscough. Accommodation is provided for 32 adults requiring personal or nursing care. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people living at the home. The majority of rooms are of single occupancy, with en-suite facilities. The environment is spacious, well maintained and tastefully decorated with good quality furnishings. All amenities are easily accessible within the nearby village of Burscough and public transport links are close by.
There was no registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. There was a manager at the home who had been in post for approximately four months at the time of our inspection. The manager had begun the process of registering with the CQC at the time of our inspection.
People told us they felt safe living at the home and that staff were kind and compassionate to their needs. Appropriate safeguarding practices were in place and staff knew how to recognise and report potential safeguarding issues.
We looked at the way the service supported people with their medicines. During the inspection we observed people being sensitively and safely supported with their medicines. We found medicines were being stored safely and securely. Room and fridge temperatures were monitored in order to maintain the appropriate storage conditions. Processes were in place to manage the appropriate disposal of medicines, including returns to the pharmacists. Controlled drugs were administered and stored appropriately.
We found some examples of ‘as needed’ medicines protocols which included pre-printed ‘generic’ instructions, they were lacking in person centred detail to ensure the medicine was administered safely and effectively in response to the person’s specific needs. We have made a recommendation about this.
During the course of our inspection we found there were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s assessed needs. We asked people and relatives about staffing levels and we received mainly positive responses.
We found the home to be clean, free from clutter and devoid of any malodours. There was an efficient cleaning and infection control regime within the home.
Staff received the appropriate training to undertake their specific role effectively. We reviewed the homes training matrix, discussed training with staff and spoke with the external training advisor for the home. People we spoke with had no concerns regarding the ability or competence of staff.
The home was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and any conditions or authorisations to deprive a person of their liberty were being met.
The home supported people with their nutritional needs including catering for people with specific needs such as those needing a diabetic or soft diet. Feedback regarding the quality of food was positive and the dining experience was seen to be a positive one.
We spoke with staff about the needs of the people who lived at the home. It was evident that staff knew people well and were able to describe people’s preferred routines, likes and dislikes. There was evidence within people’s care plans to show that this was documented.
The service had policies and procedures for dealing with any complaints or concerns. People told us they felt comfortable raising issues and that they felt any concerns would be dealt with appropriately.
Care plans evidenced that people were able to make choices across a number of areas including; food, clothing, activities undertaken and if they preferred a male or female carer to assist them. People we spoke with expressed no concerns in being able to make their preferences known.
We spoke with people who lived at Beaufort Care Home about the management and culture within the home. The responses we received were positive.
The organisation had introduced a ‘service hub’ which assisted managers and regional managers to oversee the performance of each home within the group. The hub contained information from audits undertaken as well as staffing, resident, financial and estates information for each home.
A range of meetings took place within the home so people, relatives and staff could raise issues in a formal setting.