Bennett Lodge

Updated 15 June 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Bennett Lodge 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. Bennett Lodge 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 3 May 2022 and ended on 15 May 2022. We visited the service on 5 May 2022.

What we did before the 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 information gathered as part of the monitoring activity that took place on 24 February 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people living at the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager (on the telephone as they were not in the office), regional operations director, deputy manager, housekeeping, domestic staff and care staff. We also spoke with a visiting professional.

Updated 15 June 2022

About the service

Bennett Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to up 48 people. The service provides support to disabled and older people of all ages, some of whom maybe living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 44 people using the service. The accommodation is on two levels and people can use the lift to move around the building and access their rooms, lounge and dining area. There is outside space in a courtyard with raised beds.

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

People we spoke with were positive about living at the service and complimentary of the staff. One person said, "I am happy here, I am treated very well.” Another said, “Lovely people around me, meals are not bad too.”

Care and support were planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were cared for safely by staff who had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks had been completed. Staff had received appropriate training and their knowledge was checked. Medicines was administered by staff who had received training to do so. There were systems in place to minimise the risk of infection and lessons had been learnt from accidents and incidents.

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.

The registered manager had put systems in place to monitor and provide good care and these were reviewed on a regular basis.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 22 December 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bennett Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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