Birch Hill Care Centre in Northumberland has been rated outstanding by healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Inspectors visited 8 & 22 August 2018 and rated Birch Hill Care Centre as outstanding in two areas, the effective and well-led aspects of the report, and good for the safe, caring and responsive elements.
At the last inspection in December 2015 the service was rated as good.
Birch Hill provides nursing or personal care to up to 24 people, most of whom are living with dementia.
The service was extremely effective. Bespoke and innovative training was provided to staff to help them to understand the experiences of people living with dementia. Relatives were also supported to gain a greater understanding of how people might be affected by their dementia related condition. They learned about the person centred model staff followed to minimise behavioural disturbance and distress and maximise potential, quality of life and wellbeing.
CQC inspectors also highlighted that the team continuously looked at ways to develop the service and enhance the experience of people living in Birch Hill. The outcome of this was an extremely well-led service. They accessed various forums and networks to help discover new ways of working with the aim of improving care. There were numerous examples of new ideas being put into practice seen during our inspection. Staff felt extremely well supported and morale was good in the home. There was an ever-present shared sense of purpose with all staff demonstrating that the needs and wishes of people living in Birch Hill were paramount.