Archived: Birchlands

Updated 9 September 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors

Service and service type

Birchlands is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to this inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service, including data about safeguarding and statutory notifications. Statutory notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

As part of our inspection we spoke with four people living at Birchlands to gain their views of the service they received. We observed the care and support provided to people. We also spoke with the registered manager, four staff members, the (regional) senior manager and a visiting professional. We reviewed a range of documents about people's care and how the home was managed. We looked at five care plans, three staff files, medication administration records, risk assessments, policies and procedures and internal audits that had been completed.

After the inspection

We spoke with four relatives regarding their experience of the care their loved ones received. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 9 September 2021

About the service

Birchlands is a care home without nursing and accommodates up to 52 people in one adapted building. The building is divided into seven different living areas each with its own communal lounge, dining area and bathrooms. There is also a large communal area on the ground floor. The service supports adults requiring care and support due to their physical health and those living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people living at the service

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

Risks to people’s safety were assessed and staff were aware of the precautions to take to keep them safe. People were protected from potential abuse as systems were in place to help identify concerns and ensure they were reported in a timely way. Robust recruitment processes were followed. Staff received effective training and supervision to support them in their roles.

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. People and their relatives were involved in planning their care and guidance on meeting people’s needs was available for staff. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals and staff understood the importance of requesting support promptly.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and used this knowledge to ensure their support was person-centred. People’s dignity and privacy were respected and staff understood the importance of maintaining people’s independence. There were a range of activities available which were personalised to people’s interests.

There was a positive culture within the service and staff felt supported in their roles. Quality assurance systems were effective in ensuring continuous improvement. The provider was open and honest when things went wrong and relatives told us communication was good. The management team had support from the organisation to ensure improvements made were embedded into practice.

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 9 October 2020). This was a focussed inspection looking at the areas of Safe and Well-led to review risks identified in our previous fully comprehensive inspection (published 7 May 2020). At both previous inspections breaches of regulations were identified. The provider completed an action plan following both inspections 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

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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 until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.