What the CQC found at Beechwood Care Home

Although inspectors found serious safety failures, the people and relatives who gave feedback said they felt safe living at the home.

“People and relatives said they felt safe living at the service.” from the report

The management team accepted the concerns during the inspection and began some remedial action.

“The management team were open and honest throughout the inspection.” from the report

Inspectors found the home was generally designed to meet people's needs, with communal and outdoor areas.

“The environment within the home was appropriately designed to meet people's needs.” from the report

Medicine records were inaccurate and instructions were not always followed. Inspectors found examples of overdose and one person went without pain medicine for seven days.

“We found examples where people had received an overdose of their medication due to inaccurate records.” from the report

Risk assessments were missing or out of date, and monitoring of repositioning and fluid intake was inconsistent. This meant inspectors could not be assured that people were receiving suitable care.

“Monitoring records had not been consistently completed to evidence that people's needs were being met with regards to repositioning and fluid intake.” from the report

The home relied heavily on agency staff who were not always familiar with people's needs. Some agency staff had no induction, while staff training and supervision were incomplete.

“Agency staff told us they had commenced their first shift at the service without any induction being provided.” from the report

Some people did not receive enough fluids or appropriate nutritional support. Weight loss was not always followed up quickly with professional help.

“People had not been consistently weighed to monitor their health. Where weight loss had occurred, timely action had not been taken to seek support from professionals.” from the report

Staff did not always communicate with people before providing support or offer choices. Inspectors also found that privacy, dignity and independence were not consistently respected.

“Communication between people and staff was poor. No conversations took place before support was provided.” from the report

Audits and quality checks did not reliably identify or resolve problems. Some issues had been marked as complete even though they were still outstanding.

“Some shortfalls had been signed off as completed. However, they remained outstanding at the time of this inspection.” from the report