Archived: Beechwood

A member of staff told us that if someone wanted to tell them something or express a choice they could 'vote with their feet'. They explained that people were very much able to direct their activities themselves by showing staff what they wanted or going wherever they chose.

We observed one person who interacted frequently and warmly with staff communicating with movement and facial expressions. We observed other people interacting positively with staff. One person used a form of sign language and interacted regularly with those around him. Staff demonstrated an understanding of each person's mode of communication and responded with positive encouragement.

We observed each person being treated with respect and given one to one attention periodically throughout the day, including positive reassurance, guiding and prompting however also being given space to pursue their own activity. We observed people smiling and laughing.

We found that there were suitable levels of staffing available to support people and that staff understood safeguarding. We saw that the service had systems for checking quality.

The relief manager told us none of the five people who used the service had any capacity for speech. Therefore we spoke with relatives of people who used the service and focused on discussion with the relief manager and staff on duty to get an understanding of how people were cared for who used the service.

Relatives told us they were involved in the care of their relatives who used the service. One relative said, 'We were asked to sign our relative's care plans some years ago, but we have not been asked to sign them recently'. Another relative said, 'We have not been asked to sign anything but, the manager kept us informed and we have discussed and agreed the care for our relative'.

We found that the service had not sought people's consent prior to providing them with care and support. We saw systems in place that ensured medicines were administered safely.

We observed that people were able to eat and drink adequate amounts of food and fluid to meet their needs. Staff told us people had the food they liked. We saw that there was insufficient staff on duty to meet the care needs of people who used the service. We found that people's documented care was not a reflection of their care needs as identified in their care plans.