Updated 1 May 2021
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of three inspectors, a member of the CQC medicine optimisation team, two Specialist Professional Advisors who were both registered nurses and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. One of the inspectors and the Expert by Experience were not present at the inspection and carried out inspection related activities including phone calls to people, relatives and staff following the site visit.
Service and service type
Beachcroft House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal are as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we held in relation to the service.
As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we conducted reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. We carried out a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices Beachcroft House had in place on 22 January 2021 and were assured the service was safe.
The service experienced an extensive COVID-19 outbreak in January 2021 and was recovering from this outbreak at the time of our inspection visit.
We reviewed notifications about events at the service which the provider is required by legislation to inform us about, for example any safeguarding concerns. We sought and received feedback from the local authority and local health care professionals who work with the service. Information was received from the local authority quality assurance team, safeguarding adults lead, public health officer, GP and a specialist community nurse.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 11 members of staff including four care assistants, two team leaders, the chef, the deputy manager, the registered manager, the area manager and an activities organiser. We also spoke with the visiting GP. We met two people living at the service who wished to tell us about their positive experience of using the service but did not make formal arrangements to speak with additional people, in line with our safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We reviewed a range of records which included 12 people’s care records and 17 medicine records. We checked the recruitment files and individual supervision records for five staff. A variety of records relating to the management of the service policies and procedures were reviewed.
We spent one day a