Birchwood Grange Nursing Home in Harrow, Brent, has been rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.
The home was rated Outstanding for being effective, caring, responsive and well-led. It was rated Good for being safe, following an inspection in October 2019.
Birchwood Grange Nursing Home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 150 older people. It supports people living with dementia, a mental illness, and/or a physical disability. At the time of the inspection there were 150 people living at the service.
The service was exceptional in adapting care, so it was provided in-line with the latest evidence-based research. For example, Birchwood Grange had introduced an initiative by the British Lung Foundation called 'singing for lung health'. There is increasing evidence that singing regularly as part of a group is good for general health and wellbeing, especially at improving quality of life for people living with a lung condition.
There was a strong focus on inclusion, equality, diversity and human rights. Inspectors found strong evidence people's differences. For example, religious beliefs, gender, race, sexual orientation, age and ethnicity were respected. The service's motto was 'Our diversity is our strength.' People were supported to mark religious festivals, holidays and observances, including Christmas, Easter, Diwali and Ramadan.
The service provided an exceptionally positive and inclusive setting to enable people to express their sexual orientation without threat of discrimination. There was an LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay and bisexual communities) champion who represented relevant issues.
People's independence was supported as far as possible. There was evidence of positive risk-taking. The service always weighed the likely benefits and harms of exercising one choice of action over another. For example, one person was partially blind but wished to cook their own meals in the main kitchen. Associated risks included, scalding and lacerations from sharp instruments. However, by putting in place an effective risk management plan, the service enabled the person to exercise real choice and control, and therefore their independence.
Staff were attentive and ensured people were participating in activities. They offered spontaneous and planned activities, which ranged from shopping trips, visits to pubs, local walks, visiting places of interests, including church or temple. People enjoyed tea parties, music sessions, family events, arranging flowers and looking after hens and rabbits. We observed people listening to a guitarist who played relaxing music and people were engaged and reacted positively to it.
Other innovative strategies to reduce loneliness included animal assisted therapy in the form of HenPower. HenPower aims to reduce loneliness by introducing chickens into care homes. The service previously kept chickens in its back garden. Due to the success of the trial, more chickens had been ordered. There was evidence during the trial this had encouraged people to go outside to interact with chickens, including topping up their water and food.
We heard some outstanding feedback from professionals. One said: "Overall it is an excellent home for its size and is managed in an amazing way. People have their own committee to promote changes they want to see. I could not find any real fault in it at all and again for a home that size it is an absolute achievement." This view was shared by people, their relatives and members of the community.
The service continuously sought to make improvements. There was a rigorous approach to monitoring incidents to support improvement. The service was monitored, through robust systems of governance.
CQC evaluated the leadership as Outstanding. People, their relatives and professionals consistently described the registered manager in complimentary terms such as 'inspirational, enthusiastic, approachable and exceptionally caring'. We found a strong commitment to providing people with high quality person-centred care.
Alison Murray, Head of Adult Social Care inspection in London said: “Birchwood Grange Nursing Home was previously rated as Good - so I am very pleased to now see it has improved further and is Outstanding overall, and in four of the five main categories CQC rates.
“What stood out for me was the positive impact for people and the culture that had been created to support innovative practices, often at little cost. I liked the Hen Power work and the butterfly time. The link that had been made with the local community was particularly good.
“The achievements of the service were recognised with a top 10 position out of 1,500 care homes by Care Homes UK review, 2018.”
You can read the report in full when it is published on CQC’s website at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-1770411032
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