Archived: Blackbrook House

Updated 9 April 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on10 February 2016. It was unannounced and was carried out by two inspectors and one expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service, and their expertise was in the care of older people.

We reviewed all the information we had available about the service, including notifications sent to us by the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We used this information to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with four people who used the service, the registered manager and deputy manager and five care staff. We also spoke with three relatives that were visiting at the time of our inspection, and made telephone calls to two healthcare professionals following our visit.

We reviewed six people’s care records, staff recruitment records, medication charts, staffing rotas and records which related to how the service monitored staffing levels and the quality of the service. We also looked at information which related to the management of the service such as health and safety records, quality monitoring audits and records of complaints.

Updated 9 April 2016

The inspection took place on 10 February 2016 and was unannounced.

Blackbrook House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 55 older people who may also have dementia. Care is provided in two separate units which are located on the same floor level. At the time of our visit there were 40 people living in the service.

The service had 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 because staff supported them to understand how to keep safe and staff knew how to manage risk effectively. There were appropriate arrangements in place for medication to be stored and administered safely, and there were sufficient numbers of care staff with the correct skills and knowledge to safely meet people’s needs.

The Care Quality Commission monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and are required to report on what we find. The MCA sets out what must be done to make sure the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity to make decisions are protected. The DoLS are a code of practice to supplement the main MCA code of practice. The registered manager had some understanding of MCA and DoLS, but had not ensured Mental capacity assessments had been carried out where people were not able to make decisions for themselves.

Inconsistencies across the service in relation to the quality of information included in people’s care records were found and improvements were required.

People did not always have input in planning for their care. Therefore people were not fully involved in making decisions about their care and support.

People had access to healthcare professionals. A choice of food and drink was available that reflected their nutritional needs, and took into account their personal lifestyle preferences or health care needs.

Staff had good relationships with people who used the service and were attentive to their needs. People’s privacy and dignity was respected at all times.

People were encouraged to follow their interests and hobbies. They were supported to keep in contact with their family and friends.

There was a strong management team who encouraged an open culture and who led by example. Staff morale was high and they felt that their views were valued.

The management team had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service provided, and to drive improvements where this was required.