Archived: Bethel Care Homes

Updated 26 June 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Bethel Care Home 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. The service provides personal care and accommodation for three people living with a learning disability.

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 the information we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We spoke with the local authority commissioners and other health and social care providers.

Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. This is known as a Provider Information Return (PIR). The provider had completed a PIR.

During the inspection we spoke with one person who used the service and two staff members, including the registered manager. It was not always possible to speak to everyone and ask direct questions about the service they received because of people's learning disabilities. However, people could express how they felt about where they were, the care they received and the staff who supported them through non-verbal communication. We observed interactions between staff and all the people using the service as we wanted to see if the service communicated and supported people in a way that had a positive effect on their wellbeing.

We reviewed two people's personal care records, two staff records, staff rotas, medicine administration records and other records relating to the management of the service such as health and safety records and training records.

Updated 26 June 2019

About the service:

Bethel Care Home is a residential care service providing personal care and accommodation for up to three people living with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection two people were using the service.

The service didn’t always consistently apply the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

People’s experience of using this service:

The outcomes for people did not fully reflect the principles and values of Registering the Right Support for the following reasons.

The service was not always clean and the systems in place did not ensure the premises was safe for people living there. We identified a breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment. Staff understood how to manage people’s risks and keep people safe from harm. The service worked well as a team to ensure people received safe and responsive care and support in a timely manner and the service demonstrated a culture of continuous learning and improvement to ensure the best quality support was provided.

Staff were provided with adequate training, supervision and appraisal to provide effective, care and support. People were encouraged to keep healthy and well. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this. The service had not been adapted in all places to meet the needs of people living there; a recommendation was made to review this and ensure people felt safe and comfortable moving around the home.

People were treated with dignity and respect and were supported to be as independent as possible.

The service provided a wide range of activities for people living at the service. We found that not all information about the home was made accessible to people living there; we recommended the service review best practice guidelines and ensure information could be understood by all. Staff had not received end of life training and people were not supported to discuss this.

The quality assurance systems in place did not identify the shortfalls we found during our inspection. We identified a breach of regulation in relation to good governance. People, staff and other professionals spoke positively about the registered manager and the service.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated Good (published 28 November 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Enforcement:

We identified two breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. Please see the ‘action we have told the provider to take’ section towards the end of the report.

Follow up:

We will monitor all intelligence received about the service to inform the assessment of the risk profile of the service and to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk