We carried out a review of the data available to us about Bennett Lodge on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Bennett Lodge, you can give feedback on this service.
Bennett Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to up 48 people. The service provides support to disabled and older people of all ages, some of whom maybe living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 44 people using the service. The accommodation is on two levels and people can use the lift to move around the building and access their rooms, lounge and dining area. There is outside space in a courtyard with raised beds.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People we spoke with were positive about living at the service and complimentary of the staff. One person said, "I am happy here, I am treated very well.” Another said, “Lovely people around me, meals are not bad too.”
Care and support were planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were cared for safely by staff who had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks had been completed. Staff had received appropriate training and their knowledge was checked. Medicines was administered by staff who had received training to do so. There were systems in place to minimise the risk of infection and lessons had been learnt from accidents and incidents.
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 registered manager had put systems in place to monitor and provide good care and these were reviewed on a regular basis.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 22 December 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bennett Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
We found the following examples of good practice.
Risk assessments had been carried out on people using services and staff belonging to higher risk groups and actions had been taken to reduce the risks.
The service used isolation, cohorting and zoning effectively.
Infection Prevention and Control Policy was being updated, including a COVID-19 IPC Policy.
Staff had all completed infection prevention and control training, and this included the correct procedures for using PPE.
The service was clean throughout. There were appropriate procedures to ensure infection control risks were minimised.
The registered manager had contingency plans in place to prepare for an outbreak and manage any staff absences effectively.
The registered manager was very proud of the staff team and their commitment to keeping people safe.
Bennett Lodge is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Bennett Lodge does not provide nursing care. It is registered for up to 47 older people some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found;
We found infection prevention control processes at the service needed to improve to mitigate risk of infection. Guidance on the use of PPE and social distancing for people needed to be implemented along with increased cleaning schedules.
Governance and oversight of the service needed to be more robust to address issues promptly and resources made available by the provider for remedial work on the environment to be completed.
Staff were trained in safeguarding and knew how to raise any concerns. The registered manager had policies and procedures in place for staff to follow and when needed had worked with the local authority to resolve safeguarding concerns.
People’s care needs were attended to by staff who knew them well and how they liked to be supported. There were enough staff on duty and the registered manager had appropriate recruitment processes in place.
Medication was managed safely and people were supported to receive their medication safely.
The registered manager had processes in place to learn lessons when things when wrong to encourage learning and improve 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 Good (12 July 2018).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to Infection Prevention and Control. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe and Well Led sections of this full report.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
The provider has put an action plan in place and has taken steps to address the areas of concern identified.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The service protected people from the risk of harm and abuse. Staff were trained and demonstrated a good understanding of their responsibilities to keep people safe. There were policies and procedures in place to guide staff, and staff said they knew how to implement them. Risks were managed well, and people were supported with every-day risks to help them maintain their independence. Although people had mixed views, staffing levels were good overall, and they enabled people to access the local community. There was a robust recruitment process in place, which ensured staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Medication management was good and people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff had been trained, and knew people, and their medicine needs well. The service had good infection control policies, procedures and practices. The registered manager shared information with staff to ensure that lessons were learnt when things went wrong.
People received a detailed assessment of their needs before they moved into the service and their care plans were devised from the assessment process. Staff received a good induction, and were well trained and supported to do their work. The registered manager worked well in partnership with other professionals to ensure people received the care they needed. People had sufficient good quality food and drink to enable them to keep healthy. Staff provided people with the healthcare they needed, when they needed it. Although the building was rather tired looking, it was safe and suitable for people’s needs. The registered manager had plans in place to improve the décor and replace items where necessary. People had as much choice and control over their lives as possible. The service worked in line with other legislation such as the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and had completed mental capacity assessments and Deprivation of Liberties (DoLS) where required to ensure people’s rights and freedoms were respected and protected.
People were cared for by kind, caring and compassionate staff who understood their individual needs. People told us that staff treated them respectfully, and that they ensured they were treated with dignity, while maintaining their privacy and supporting their independence. People and their families were actively involved in every aspect of their care; they made daily decisions about their care and support.
People received person-centred care that was responsive to their changing needs. The care plans were written in a way that ensured people were supported to maintain their skills for as long as possible. The service employed an activities coordinator who arranged regular activities for people throughout the day. People also had the opportunity to go out in the service’s mini-bus for visits to the seafront for an ice cream. There was a good complaints system in place and people said they were confident when raising any concerns. The service had dealt with complaints quickly and had recorded the outcomes.
People received a good quality service. Staff shared the registered manager’s vision to provide people with person centred care that gave them as much control, choice and independence as possible. The quality assurance system was effective. The service’s audits had identified where improvements were needed, and the registered manager had plans in place to ensure they were made. Staff learnt from mistakes through discussion and made continual improvements to the service. The registered manager ensured that all interested parties were kept fully involved and worked well with other professionals to ensure that people received good quality person-centred care.
Further information is available in the detailed findings below.
Bennett Lodge is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 48 older people some of whom may be living with dementia. There were 46 people living in the service on the first day of our inspection visit.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People’s care and support was provided in a way that ensured their safety and welfare. There were sufficient numbers of safely recruited staff who were well trained and supported to meet people’s assessed needs. There were safe systems in place for receiving, administering and disposing of medicines. People received their medication as prescribed.
Staff had a good knowledge of how to protect people from the risk of harm. They had been trained and had access to guidance and information to support them with the process. Risks to people’s health and safety had been assessed and the service had up to date care plans and risk assessments in place to ensure that people were cared for safely.
The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and had made appropriate applications when needed.
People had enough to eat and drink to meet their individual needs and preferences. People’s care needs had been assessed and their care plans provided staff with the information required to meet people’s needs and to care for them safely. People’s healthcare needs had been monitored and staff sought advice and guidance from healthcare professionals when needed.
Staff were kind and caring and knew people well. They ensured that people’s privacy and dignity was maintained at all times. People expressed their views and opinions and they participated in activities of their choosing. People were able to receive their visitors at any time and their families and friends were made to feel welcome.
People were confident that their concerns or complaints would be listened to and acted upon. There was an effective system in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and to drive improvements.
We spoke with five people who used the service. One person said to us, "I am very happy here, I have no complaints. Everyone is very kind." Another person said, "The staff are very friendly; and this is a beautiful place to live." We observed the care and attention people received from staff. All interactions we saw were appropriate, respectful and friendly and there was a relaxed atmosphere throughout the home.
If you want to see the evidence supporting our summary please read the full report. We considered our inspection findings to answer the five questions we always ask: Is the service safe? Is the service effective? Is the service caring? Is the service responsive? Is the service well led?
Is the service safe?
People were protected by effective staff recruitment systems. Records showed that staff had received Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) training. This meant that staff were provided with the information that they needed to ensure that people were safeguarded.
Is the service effective?
People we spoke with were satisfied with the care and support they received. No one raised any concerns with us. This was consistent with the positive feedback received from people as reported in the provider's own quality assurance survey. All of the staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about individual people's care needs, and this knowledge was consistent with the care plans in place.
Is the service caring?
People were supported by kind and attentive staff. We saw that care workers showed patience and gave encouragement when supporting people. People commented, 'I never feel rushed by the staff that help me, they don't do everything for me and help me to do things for myself'. A relative said, 'I visit my relative regularly and the staff are lovely to my relative and other people in the home'.
Is the service responsive?
We saw that care plans and risk assessments were informative, up to date and regularly reviewed. The registered manager responded in an open, thorough and timely manner to complaints. Therefore people could be assured that complaints were investigated and action was taken as necessary. Staff told us the manager was approachable and they would have no difficulty speaking to them if they had any concerns about the home.
Is the service well led?
Staff said that they felt well supported by the manager, there was a good team ethic and they were able do their jobs safely. The provider had a range of quality monitoring systems in place to ensure that care was being delivered appropriately by staff.
People told us that they could do what they wished and were given choices in their daily lives.
Peoples' medicines were being managed safely but some attention to detail was needed to ensure consistency of practice.
Staff said that they were well supported and had opportunities for training. We saw that staff were kept up to date with training in essential areas such as moving and handling. Staff felt that communication and teamwork in the service was good. This would help to ensure that people receive a good and consistent service.
People were happy with the quality of the service and there were good systems in place to ensure that the quality and safety of the service was monitored and maintained.