The inspection took place on 12 September 2017 and was unannounced.

Beech Lodge Nursing Home provides residential and nursing care for up to 37 people, including older people and people living with dementia. There were 35 people living at the home on the day we inspected.

At the last inspection the service was rated as requires improvement.

At this inspection the service has improved and is rated good.

Our last inspection took place on 19 April 2016. We found that the provider was in breach of the regulations as they had failed to notify us of significant incidents relating to the service relating to safe care and treatment. At this inspection we found the provider had made the improvements needed to comply with this regulation. The registered manager had reviewed the legal requirements and had submitted appropriate notifications about all relevant events.

There was a registered manager for the home. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People’s rights under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were respected and where people had capacity they were supported to make decisions. Where people were unable to consent to living at the home and were under constant supervision appropriate referrals had been made to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards supervisory authority. People were able to make choices about their everyday lives and these were supported by staff.

There were enough staff to ensure that people’s needs were met in a timely manner. In addition staff received training and support from managers which meant that the care provided was safe and effective. Recruitment processes ensured that staff were safe to work with people living at the home. Staff had received training in keeping people safe from abuse and knew how to raise concerns.

Staff were kind, caring and compassionate and supported people’s dignity and independence.

There was a weekly programme of activities and people were able to choose what activities they wanted to undertake. The activities supported people’s health and well-being and people were also supported to access the community.

People’s ability to maintain a healthy weight was monitored along with their ability to eat safely. Where any concerns were identified action was taken to keep people safe. Where need advice was sought form other health care professionals to ensure that the care provided met people’s needs. Medicines were safely managed and systems ensured that they were always available to people when needed,

The provider took account of the views of people living at the home and their family members to monitor the quality of care provided and to identify areas for improvement. The provider and registered manager also had a set of audits in place which monitored the quality of care and identified risks to people. When any areas of concern were identified the provider took action to rectify the issue.

Beech Lodge Nursing Home provides residential and nursing care for up to 37 people, including older people and people living with dementia.

We inspected the home on 19 April 2016. The inspection was unannounced. There were 35 people living in the home at the time of our inspection.

The home had a registered manager (the ‘manager’) in post. A manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers (the ‘provider’) they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves. At the time of our inspection the provider had submitted DoLS applications for 22 people living in the home and was waiting for these to be assessed by the local authority.

During our inspection we found a breach of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. This was because the provider had failed to notify us of significant incidents relating to the service. You can see what action we told the provider to take on this issue at the back of the full version of this report.

We also found other areas in which where improvement was needed to ensure people were provided with safe, effective care that met their needs.

The provider’s audit and quality monitoring systems were not consistently effective and some people were not protected properly from the risk of falling.

In other areas the provider was meeting people’s needs effectively.

Staff had a good understanding of how to support people living with dementia and had time to meet people’s care and support needs without rushing.

There was a calm, relaxed atmosphere in the home and care and support were provided in a warm and patient way that took account of each person’s personal needs and preferences. People and their relatives were involved in the preparation and review of their personal care plan.

A specialist activities coordinator organised a varied programme of activities and events and staff supported people to maintain personal interests and remain active.

Medicines were well-managed and people had prompt access to any specialist healthcare support they needed. Food and drink were provided to a good standard.

The provider had sound recruitment procedures in place and formal complaints were well-managed. The manager met regularly with people and their relatives to discuss any concerns and suggestions.