Beechwood

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

People and relatives spoke positively about the staff describing them as kind, caring and compassionate. Comments included, “Staff seem very attentive. They look after [family member] well and make sure [they’re] well cared for" and, “The staff do a good job” and, “They look after [family member] very well. [Family member] seems happy.”

Staff knew people well and were kind and respectful in their approach, ensuring their privacy and dignity was maintained.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

People had personalised their rooms to reflect their individuality. One person said, “Yeah, I like my room. I’ve got it just as I want it.” Some people had their own fridges and kettles in their rooms to support their independence. One person had a coffee machine and said how much they enjoyed making their own coffee.

One relative said, “[Family member] has everything she needs in her room, it’s nicely decorated, she has pictures up of family and flowers in a vase, so it’s homely.”

Another relative appreciated how staff cared for their family member’s individual needs and said, “They seem to take their time with her and ensure she has everything she needs.”

However, we found staff did not always refer to one person by their preferred pronouns, which showed a lack of respect for the person’s identity.

The provider did not always promote people’s independence, so people did not always know their rights and have choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

There was mixed feedback from people about how much choice and control they had over their daily lives. Three people said they would like daily showers but could only have a shower twice a week on set days. One person said they were unable to go out for a cigarette in the afternoon as they were put back to bed. However, a relative told us, “[Family member] has a bath once a week and has her hair washed a few times a week. This is her choice.”

Activities were planned with people and displayed on a board. Some people told us about activities they had taken part in and enjoyed. Some people were supported to go out into the community. However, other people told us they were bored. One person said, “It’s boring, there’s nothing to do. I don't go out.” When asked what they were doing today, the person replied, “Same as yesterday, nothing.” Another person said they were very bored and hadn’t been able to go out as they normally did. A relative told us their family member did not receive the mental stimulation they needed and often complained they were bored.

People said there had been a gap in activities recently as the activity co-ordinator had left, although a new activity co-ordinator had started and was organising a Halloween party. A staff member said, “We try our best to ensure the residents are stimulated. We have a new activities person who has just started and has already arranged to take some of the residents Christmas shopping.”

People were supported to keep in touch with family and friends through calls and regular visits.

Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff were attentive to people's immediate needs. People said staff generally came promptly if they rang for assistance. We saw sensor equipment was in place for some people and others had call bells to hand to alert staff.

Audits showed call bell response times were monitored to ensure staff response times were appropriate.

The provider cared about and promoted the well-being of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they enjoyed working at Beechwood and felt supported in their roles by colleagues and management. Comments included, “I have worked here for [many] years, and the staff are the reason I have stayed for so long, we really are like one big family here. The managers are also very good, they are supportive, understanding, approachable and very encouraging of the staff” and “I’m very happy [working] here. The other staff and management are very supportive.”

Records showed staff received regular supervision and an annual appraisal.