CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Belmont House Devon Ltd
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- People felt safe. Risks, safeguarding, staffing, recruitment, medicines and infection control were managed well. Some external medicines were not always recorded by their individual product name.
- Effective?
- Good
- Staff had suitable training and worked well with health professionals. Some mental capacity records were not initially decision-specific, but the records were corrected by the second day of the inspection.
- Caring?
- Good
- People described staff as kind and caring. Inspectors saw people being treated with respect, offered choices and supported to remain independent.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care plans reflected people's needs and preferences and were regularly reviewed. People could take part in activities, receive visitors and communicate in ways suited to them.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Management had effective checks and audits and promoted a positive, person-centred culture. The previous breach about good governance had been resolved.
What inspectors found, March 2023
Belmont House Devon Ltd is rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and person-centred care, with some records still being improved.
Inspectors visited unannounced on 7, 8 and 13 February 2023. They spoke with people living in the home, family members, staff and health professionals. They also checked care records, medicines records, recruitment files and quality checks.
All five areas were rated Good: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. People said they felt safe and were happy with the care. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines systems, good infection control and care that respected people's choices, privacy and dignity.
The home had improved since the previous inspection under its former legal entity, when it was rated Requires Improvement and breached regulations about safe care and good governance. At this inspection, the home was no longer in breach. A few records needed further improvement, including some medicines records and capacity assessment records.
Kind and respectful care
People said staff were kind, caring and respectful. Inspectors saw relaxed interactions, reassurance when people were upset and support for privacy and independence.
“People told us they were happy living at Belmont House and were supported by staff who were kind and caring.” from the report
Personalised support
Care plans included people's needs and preferences. People were offered choices about daily life, food, activities and where they spent their time.
“People's care needs had been assessed and care plans developed based on people's needs and preferences.” from the report
Good management and partnership working
The home used audits and checks to monitor care and worked with health and social care professionals when people needed support.
“The provider had effective quality monitoring and assurance systems in place to monitor the quality of the care and support people received at the service.” from the report
Some medicines records needed updating
minorRecords for creams and other external medicines did not always name each product separately. The registered manager was moving to new electronic records to address this.
“Preparations were not always listed as named products, and the registered manager was putting new records onto the electronic system to make sure these would always be listed individually.” from the report
Capacity records were initially incomplete
needs fixingSome mental capacity assessments were not specific to the individual decision, and related best-interests records did not always support that decision. The manager put this right during the inspection.
“However, records did not always show that mental capacity assessments undertaken were decision specific and supported by decision specific best interests' records.” from the report
- 01Are all creams and other external medicines now recorded by their individual product name?
- 02How do you check that mental capacity assessments are specific to each decision and supported by best-interests records?
- 03How do you monitor accidents and incidents for repeated patterns or areas needing improvement?
- 04How do you make sure care plans continue to reflect changes in each person's health, communication and daily preferences?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five key questions, including infection prevention and control under Safe; the report also says the inspection provided a rating under the home's new legal entity. This explanation was written from the published report of 9 March 2023 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of Belmont House Devon Ltd
3 rated inspections over 6 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- March 2023Goodcurrent ratingup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- August 2019Requires improvementdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- December 2016GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- April 2022
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 12 April 2022.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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21 live-in carers within about an hour of Torbay
These are self-employed carers on PrimeCarers, the introductory agency that runs this directory. Each has a profile with their own rates and reviews from families, and you choose who to talk to.
Most charge £980 to £1,400 a week. 17 can care for a couple. 12 years' experience on average.
“She looked after my mum, who can be incredibly challenging, so well and so gently, and we always felt confident that my mum was getting the best care available.”
“She was not phased by anything, she was adaptable, kind & gave us complete confidence to go away & not worry about a thing!”
Every carer has had an enhanced DBS check in the last 18 months, ID and right-to-work checks and an online interview. Their skills and training are for you to check with them. Carers set their own rates, and who is free changes week to week.