Beech Hall

Updated 26 November 2020

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 11 November 2020 and was announced.

Updated 26 November 2020

About the service

Beech Hall is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 64 people aged 65 and over, many of whom live with dementia. At the time of the inspection 64 people were using the service. The home consists of purpose built accommodation spread across three floors. Two of these floors have been specially adapted to meet the needs of people living with dementia.

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

People received extremely kind and compassionate care from staff who were dedicated in making people’s lives as comfortable as possible. Staff had developed extremely strong relationships with people and used information on people’s past lives and preferences to plan and deliver highly person-centred care. People were fully involved in the service, having real influence over all aspects of their care and how the home operated. The service was highly effective at promoting people’s independence.

The service had developed exceptionally strong links with the local community to the benefit of people who used the service. People had access to an excellent variety of activities and staff engaged with them at every opportunity. People, relatives and health professionals all said the service provided exceptional care. People’s individual needs and preferences were fully catered for, taking into account their equality characteristics. The service provided highly personalised and compassionate end of life care.

The registered manager had ensured a highly person-centred culture within the home with all groups of staff dedicated to ensuring people’s needs were fully met. People, relatives and staff provided excellent feedback about the management team. The service had significantly improved over the past few years and was constantly looking at ways to further improve. The service was a positive example to others and worked with a number of organisations to develop and share best practice.

The service was safe. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and detailed risk assessments put in place for staff to follow. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. The premises were safe and regularly checked. There were enough staff to ensure people received a high level of care.

People received effective care from staff with the right skills and knowledge to care for them. People were provided with a variety of food and drink that met their individual needs. The service liaised well with health professionals to ensure people’s healthcare needs were met. 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 service provided high quality, person-centred dementia care.

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 requires improvement (published 19 January 2018). There was also an inspection on 17 August 2018 however, the report following that inspection was withdrawn as there was an issue with some of the information that we gathered.

Why we inspected

This is a planned re-inspection because of the issue highlighted above.

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.