The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the rating for Beechwood Care Home in Northallerton, from good to inadequate and placed it into special measures to protect people following an inspection in December and February.
Beechwood Care Home, run by Premier Nursing Homes Limited, is a residential nursing home that provides support to older people, including those living with dementia.
CQC carried out this inspection to follow up on concerns about standards of care and safety at the service. During this inspection, there were breaches regarding safe care and treatment, how the service is managed and a failure to submit notifications as legally required to the CQC. Inspectors looked at the areas of safe and well-led.
Following the inspection, CQC has downgraded the areas of safe and well-led from good to inadequate. Caring, effective and responsive weren’t inspected so retain their previous ratings of good.
The service has been placed in special measures which involves close monitoring to ensure people are safe while Premier Nursing Homes Limited make improvements. Special measures also provides a structured timeframe so services understand when they need to make improvements by, and what action CQC will take if this doesn’t happen.
A spokesperson for Beechwood Care Home said:
We are deeply disappointed with our latest CQC inspection report and, as inspectors noted, we took immediate action to address the issues raised.
A new home manager was put in place and additional support provided to ensure early improvements were made, as the report states.
We continue to work hard to ensure the high standards of care expected by our residents and their loved ones.
As always, our highest priority is providing a safe, comfortable, and caring home for those who reside with us.
Inspectors found:
Beechwood wasn’t protecting people from avoidable harm, and there were failures in incident reporting and learning.
Leaders had limited insight into the seriousness and frequency of incidents occurring in the home.
Staff described poor morale, a lack of support and fear of raising concerns.
People’s hydration needs were poorly managed by staff meaning they were at risk of dehydration.
Staff didn’t ensure people’s medicines were managed effectively or stored safely.
Some relatives didn’t know who the home’s manager was and felt communication needed to improve.
However:
The service generally created person-centred care plans that reflected people’s needs.
Beechwood made referrals to healthcare partners appropriately, including to services such as the falls team and dieticians.
Leaders acted promptly when inspectors raised concerns.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.
See: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-141351233
