• Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Bowood Court Nursing and Residential Home

Hewell Road, Enfield, Redditch, Worcestershire, B97 6AT (01527) 65115

Provided and run by:
HC-One Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

19 September 2013

During a routine inspection

During the day we spent time at the home and watched to see how staff supported people. We spoke with four people who lived at the home who shared with us their experiences and views about the care they received. We also looked at records, and spoke with seven members of staff, the home manager and a senior manager.

Throughout our inspection we observed staff were kind and caring to people who lived at the home. It was clear from what we saw on the day of our inspection that staff knew people's likes and dislikes when they assisted people with their daily routines. This was demonstrated in the staffing levels on the day that made sure people received the individual support they needed at the right time.

One person who lived at the home told us: “I like it here” and: “They (staff) are nice.” Another person said that they were happy with the service provided and: “Carers seem to know what they are doing” and “They (staff) do a good job.” When we spoke with staff they told us about the training they had received to help them support people that lived at the home in the right way to meet their needs.

Every person had individual plans of care, based on their health and social care needs. We found people had been involved in the decisions about their care. Where this was not possible arrangements were in place that ensured decisions made were in people’s best interests.

One person who lived at the home told us: “My room is always cleaned every day.” This person invited us into their room and it looked clean and tidy with lots of personal items that the person pointed out to us were meaningful to them.

We found that people had opportunities to raise any concerns or complaints without the fear of discrimination. For example, in meetings held at the home, to staff and to their representatives.

28 September 2012

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Following our inspection in March 2012, we set compliance actions in two outcome areas where we had concerns. These concerns included examples where people who had dementia and communication support needs did not always have their dignity or independence respected. We also observed that the care files for people who lived on the ground floor of the home were kept on display in their rooms. This meant people's confidentiality was not always considered and respected.

At this inspection we found that progress had been made in all of the outcome areas where we had previously had concerns and improvements had been made.

There were 55 people living in the home when we visited. During this follow up inspection, we spoke with four people who lived at the home, the manager and three members of staff. We also observed the lunch time meals provided to people on Oak (first floor).

We identified improvements in how staff supported people with their lunchtime meals.

At our previous inspection we observed that some of the chairs in the lounge areas were too low. The manager told and showed us that new chairs had been ordered so that people would be able to sit and rise from them comfortably.

We saw that the care files for people who lived on the ground floor of the home were now securely stored in the nursing office in cabinets. This protected people's rights to confidentiality.

17 May 2012

During a routine inspection

This is the first inspection of Bowood Court since HC-One Limited became responsible for the home.

There were 55 people living in the home when we visited and we talked with some of them and their relatives about their experiences of living there.

An expert by experience joined us on this visit. Experts by experience are people who have experience of using services; either first hand or as a family carer and so have a better understanding of how the needs of people could be met. This helped us to get a clearer picture of what it was like to live at Bowood Court.

We found that people experienced appropriate levels of personal care as observed by their appearance and clothes. We received varied responses from the people who lived in the home, the relatives and friends that we talked with about the quality of the care provided. People told us:-

'(Staff) are kind but very busy.'

'Happy with the care'

'Lost and lacking much support. More staff to keep her occupied'.

'I like the staff, they are okay.'

We saw people taking part in small group activities on the first floor of the home. Others were following their own preferences in being alone or joining in group activities, such as, gentle exercises and card games.

During our inspection visit we observed that people on the ground floor remained in their rooms with staff going in to support them with their daily activities. We were told that specialist chairs which would assist and support some people to leave their rooms were going to be purchased so that people could choose to use the lounge area on this floor.

Some people who lived in the home and their relatives told us that the meals were improving as there was a new chef working at the home. One person who lived in the home told us, 'Its getting better, the food '. It used to be horrible mushy stuff' and a relative said, 'Meals are okay.'

The expert by experience joined people at lunchtime on Oak (first floor). They observed that people with dementia and communication needs were not always supported with their meal choices. For example, there were no pictorial menus to look at and no salt and pepper or napkins readily available on the tables for people to use.

There was a shortage of appropriate signage to help people find their way around the home and some of the seating in the lounge areas of the home was very low. Some people who lived in the home said that they would find it difficult to sit in these chairs. They would need to use dining chairs if they wanted to sit in the lounge or join in activities. The manager is aware of these chairs and we were told that they are going to be replaced.

Out of all of the people we spoke with none told us that they felt unsafe living in the home. We found that people and their relatives could raise concerns if they were not happy with the care being provided and we saw these were taken seriously.

The care files of people who lived on the ground floor of the home were not stored securely. This meant that potentially a variety of people would be able to access individual's personal confidential information without their consent.