North Yorkshire care home remains Inadequate as CQC takes further action

A North Yorkshire care home has again been rated Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after inspectors found significant concerns identified at a previous inspection had not been addressed.

Beechwood Care Home in Northallerton, which is run by Premier Nursing Homes Limited, provides residential nursing care to older people, including people living with dementia. There were 36 people living at the home at the time of CQC’s latest inspection, which concluded in June.

CQC carried out the inspection to follow up on concerns raised previously and found the service remained in breach of regulations relating to safe care and treatment, medicines management and the management of the service.

The home has been rated Inadequate for both safe and well-led, while effective, caring and responsive have been rated Requires Improvement. These three areas had not been inspected during the previous inspection and their earlier ratings had therefore been carried forward.

Beechwood Care Home remains in special measures and will be closely monitored by CQC while improvements are made. Special measures provide services with a structured timeframe for making required improvements and set out the action CQC can take if sufficient progress is not achieved.

Inspectors found people did not always receive the care and support they needed. Staff did not always identify when people required assistance with eating and drinking or respond when people requested help on the nursing unit, while some residents spent long periods without activities or meaningful interaction.

CQC also found that some safety concerns identified during its previous inspection remained unresolved. These included issues relating to infection prevention and fire safety, with inspectors finding fire doors that did not always close correctly.

Medicines were not always managed safely, with gaps identified in medicines records and storage. Infection prevention and control practices also required improvement, including instances where clean and soiled laundry were stored together.

Inspectors found leaders did not have effective systems in place to identify risks or ensure improvements were sustained across the home. Some staff also reported that they had not always felt listened to when raising concerns.

However, people living at the home and their relatives reported that staff were kind and caring, and inspectors observed compassionate interactions between staff and residents. CQC found staff wanted to provide good care but were not always supported by effective leadership or systems that enabled them to deliver safe and consistent care.

A new interim manager had started making changes and additional checks had recently been introduced, but CQC found these measures were still at an early stage and had not yet resulted in sufficient improvements for people using the service.

CQC has told the home’s leaders where immediate improvements must be made and will continue to closely monitor the service while it remains in special measures.

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