• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Berwick Bridges Limited

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

4a Roberts Lodge, Tweedmouth, Berwick Upon Tweed, Northumberland, TD15 2YN (01289) 303173

Provided and run by:
Berwick Bridges Limited

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Background to this inspection

Updated 26 May 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on the 12 April 2017 and we contacted relatives by phone on the 22 April 2017 to find out their opinion of the service. The inspection was announced because the registered manager and people who lived in the home were often out in the local community. We needed to be sure that they would be in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Prior to our inspection, we checked all the information which we had received about the service including any notifications which the provider had sent us. Statutory notifications are notifications of deaths and other incidents that occur within the service, which when submitted enable the Commission to monitor any issues or areas of concern.

We contacted Northumberland local authority safeguarding and contracts and commissioning teams prior to our inspection. We also contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is the local consumer champion for health and social care services. We used their feedback to inform the planning of this inspection.

The registered manager completed a provider information return (PIR) prior to the inspection. A PIR is a form which asks the provider to give some key information about their service; how it is addressing the five questions and what improvements they plan to make.

On the day of our inspection, we spoke with all six people who lived at the home. We also talked with the nominated individual, registered manager and four care staff. We examined two people’s care plans. We also checked records relating to staff and the management of the service. Following our inspection we spoke with three relatives.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 26 May 2017

The inspection took place on the 12 April 2017 and we contacted relatives by phone on the 22 April 2017 to find out their opinion of the service. The inspection was announced because the registered manager and people who lived in the home were often out in the local community. We needed to be sure that they would be in the home at the time of the inspection.

We last inspected the service on 26 March 2015 and rated the service as good. At this inspection we found the service remained good and met all the fundamental standards we inspected against.

Berwick Bridges provides care for up to six people who have learning disabilities. Accommodation is provided in a purpose built bungalow which is located in a housing estate. There were six people living there at the time of the inspection.

There were safeguarding procedures in place. Staff were knowledgeable about what action they should take if abuse was suspected. The local authority safeguarding team informed us that were no safeguarding concerns regarding the service.

The premises were clean. Checks and tests had been carried out to ensure that the premises were safe. Medicines were managed safely.

At our last inspection we found that recruitment checks were carried out to ensure that staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. We did not check staff recruitment at this inspection because there had been no new staff recruited.

Some staff told us that more staff would be appreciated to support people to access the local community. We observed staff carry out their duties in calm unhurried manner and people accessed the local community. Records confirmed that training was available to ensure staff were suitably skilled. Staff were supported though an appraisal and supervision system.

The MCA provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The Act requires that as far as possible people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible. People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the MCA. The application procedures for this in care homes and hospitals are called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The registered manager was liaising with the local authority with regards to DoLS applications.

People's nutritional needs were met and they were supported to access healthcare services when required.

We observed positive interactions between staff and people who lived at the service. Staff promoted people's privacy and dignity. There were systems in place to ensure people were involved in their care and support.

Care plans were in place which detailed the individual care and support to be provided for people.

People were supported to maintain their hobbies and interests and housekeeping skills were encouraged to help promote people’s independence. There was a complaints procedure in place. No complaints had been received.

Checks were carried out on the environment and medicines. We found minor shortfalls with the maintenance of records. There was no formal system in place to assess staffing levels. The registered manager told us she was included in the staffing numbers which sometimes made it difficult to concentrate on her management duties. We have made a recommendation that the provider reviews its assurance and auditing system.

Following our inspection, the registered manager wrote to us and stated that a new auditing tool had been formulated, a staffing ratio tool would now be used and daily records had been reintroduced. She also informed us she was updating the consent paperwork.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.