This inspection took place on 25 and 26 May 2016 and was an unannounced comprehensive rating inspection. The location was last inspected in October 2014 and was rated as Requires Improvement.

Berwood Court is a registered care home providing residential and nursing care for up to seventy four older people, including people who have dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 73 people living at the home.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 were safe and secure. Relatives believed their family members were kept safe. Risks to people had been assessed appropriately. Staff understood the different types of abuse and knew what action they would take if they thought a person was at risk of harm. The provider had processes and systems in place that kept people safe and protected them from the risk of harm.

Staff had been recruited appropriately and had received relevant training so that they were able to support people with their individual needs.

People safely received their medicines as prescribed to them.

Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and support. Staff understood when the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) should be followed.

People had a variety of food, drinks and snacks available throughout the day. They were able to choose the meals that they preferred to eat and meal times were flexible to meet people’s needs.

People were supported to stay healthy and had access to health care professionals as required. They were treated with kindness and compassion and there was positive communication and interaction between staff and the people living at the location. Staff were aware of the signs that would indicate a person was unhappy and knew what action to take to support people effectively.

People’s right to privacy were upheld by staff that treated them with dignity and respect. People’s choices and independence was respected and promoted and staff responded appropriately to people’s support needs.

People received care from staff that knew them well and benefitted from opportunities to take part in activities that they enjoyed.

The provider had management systems in place to audit, assess and monitor the quality of the service provided, to ensure that people were benefitting from a service that was continually developing.

On the day of our inspection there were 71 people living at the home. We spoke with 19 people who lived there, 12 of their relatives, 10 members of staff and the registered manager.

We saw that people's needs had been assessed by a range of health professionals and people's healthcare needs had been monitored and met. One person told us, “The care is very good, I am really pleased”

People were encouraged to eat a healthy and nutritious diet. People told us that they had a choice of what to eat and liked the food provided. One person said, “You can have full English for breakfast, a hot meal at lunchtime and another at night if you wanted to. There’s always plenty of choice and plenty of it. If you ask for a drink or something to eat you can have it whenever you want. It’s like a five star hotel.”

People had been given their medicines as they had been prescribed by their doctor to ensure their health and wellbeing.

Staff had the skills and knowledge to know how to safely support people who lived there to meet their needs. Staff told us that they were well supported in their role and this helped them to know how to support people who lived there.

People were asked for their views about the home and these were listened to. We saw that audits were completed and action was taken to make improvements where needed.

When we visited on 26th February 2013, the home was warm and welcoming, people were going to their morning activities or sitting chatting in the foyer area and lounges.

We talked to three people on the day of our visit. They told us they were very comfortable and felt safe, the food was good and staff listened to them and gave them time.

One person said there were things to do but these were the same every week.

One person said she valued the weekly communion service. Another person told us they wanted to go home to their family but were not able and they were very sad.

We spoke to two relatives, they told us they were very pleased with the care and support given by the staff, they were wonderful. They told us Berwood was by far the best home they had visited and they were happy to leave their relative in this home.

We spoke to three members of staff who told us they felt well supported particularly by the new registered manager. They enjoyed their work and felt they were listened to and respected.

We talked to other senior staff on duty, they told us how they work with their staff teams and the registered manager to ensure good levels of care were given. They told us how improvements in care and the environment were suggested by staff and if possible these improvements are discussed, agreed and actioned.

We were informed by the service of a serious medicine error and the actions they had taken to ensure the safety of people in the service and to prevent it happening again.

People living at the home told us they were very happy there and felt safe. They said that staff cared for them very well and they were content. People living at the home benefit from having a staff team who receive ongoing training to develop their skills, and who are well supported by the management team.

This was an unannounced inspection, which took place 14 and 15 October 2014. We last inspected this service on 18 October 2013 there were no breaches of legal requirements at that inspection.

Berwood Court Care Home is in the Castle Vale area of Birmingham. The home provides nursing and residential care for 74 older people, including people who have dementia.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Everyone that lived at the home and their relatives spoken with told us they were safe and secure living there. With the exception of one new member of staff, all staff spoken with knew how to keep people safe from abuse and harm. Where incidents had occurred the provider took action to help in reducing risks. However, a number of people used bedrails to support their care and there was a potential risk of them becoming entrapped.

People received their medication as prescribed and were able to manage their medication independently, with support from staff. Medication storage in one area of the home was not stored as safely as it could be, but the provider confirmed that they would address this.

People, relatives and staff spoken with said there were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet the needs of people. Staff spoken with and records confirmed that staff were suitably recruited and received the necessary training and support to help them to care for people safely.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) sets out what must be done to make sure that the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity to make decisions are protected, including when balancing autonomy and protection in relation to consent or refusal of care. The MCA Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) requires providers to submit applications to a ‘Supervisory Body’ for authority to deprive someone of their liberty. Staff spoken with had an understanding of the MCA and DoLS and had received training, so they knew how to protect people’s rights in line with the legislation.

People spoken with were complimentary about the food, all said they had a choice of food and drinks and received the support they needed with eating, drinking and maintaining their health.

People spoken with said that the staff were caring, promoted their independence and respected their privacy and dignity. People were able to maintain contact with friends and relatives and pursue social activities and interests.

People’s needs were assessed and people felt their needs were being met and that staff knew them well and responded to their needs appropriately. Everyone spoken with were confident that their concerns or complaints would be listened to and acted upon and people were asked to comment on the quality of service they received. The provider ensured they had an overview of these comments so they could identify where the service needed to improve.

The management of the service was stable, and managers were open and accessible to people, staff and relatives. People were able to contribute to suggestions for improvement. However, quality assurance processes had not been fully implemented.