Enter and View Report: Beechwood Specialist Services

In May 2024 we visited Beechwood Specialist Services, a specialist nursing/care home. They have 60 beds but on the date of our visit they had 39 residents all of whom lived on the ground floor of the home. Beechwood does not charge top up fees.

Summary

During our visit to Beechwood Specialist Services the home seemed to be working well. They have residents with challenging conditions and behaviours and staff seemed to be rising to the challenge and delivering excellent personalised care.

Management and staff appeared open and honest with us during our visit and did not shy away from discussing challenges that the home and the wider industry faces. Staff came across as committed to providing the best care possible and really did seem to care about the residents and view them as individuals and considered Beechwood to be the residents’ home.

Some of the initiatives spearheaded by staff were very impressive including the personalised sensory room and the use of individualised pictures of people’s lives. The pictures displayed outside people’s rooms of past jobs and key images seems to be a fantastic idea in sparking conversations and supporting residents to be seen as individuals with unique pasts. We found the idea and execution of these pictures to be excellent and have championed the idea to other partners.

Recommendations 

We make the following recommendations for Beechwood Specialist Services.

1. Consider implementing the ‘buddy system’ used previously to support new staff and encourage the building of strong relationships in the home.
2. Try to build up relationships with outside organisations who can add further value to residents’ experiences.
3. Explore options for more in-person training to help upskill staff and create a more confident workforce.

Response from Beechwood Specialist Services

We shared our recommendations to the manager at Beechwood who responded promptly and advised the following- 

1.    Buddy system implemented prior to receiving report, we have had some recent success in recruitment.

2.    Huntington's training arranged from Huntington's disease association. We are reaching out to other organisations to improve our community outreach. 

3.    In person training planned and some completed, staff have given positive feedback.

Positives and good practice

We found during our visit examples of positives and good practice which included but were not limited to

• Staff members from management through to carers were open and transparent about the challenges faced. The staff were not afraid to give their opinions and ideas for change and there seemed to be a great deal of trust and camaraderie built between staff.
• The caring nature of the staff we met really did shine through. From skilled interactions we witnessed through to the spearheading of initiatives such as the sensory room and personalised memory pictures. Staff were proud of the home and proud of their residents’ achievements.
• The external areas of the care home are very appealing and included a large well maintained garden, the Otterspool promenade and woods and fields close by. The nearby public transport links and the minibus available provides multiple opportunities for residents to experience the outdoors and the health benefits this can offer.