7 November 2019
During a routine inspection
Brandon House is a residential care home providing personal care, but not nursing care for up to a maximum of 42 people. There were 39 people using the service at the time of the inspection. The service is registered to support people with their mental health needs.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received safe care from knowledgeable and caring staff. Staff understood their responsibilities to identify and report any concerns. The service had recruitment and selection processes in place designed to recruit only staff suitable to work in providing care. The registered manager assessed people’s needs and used a dependency tool to calculate the number of staff required to be on duty to support people. Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed.
Each person had a care plan containing a risk assessment and people’s choices of how they wished to be supported with their needs. The staff were provided with supervision and on-going support including training. Staff recorded when necessary how they had supported people to have enough to eat and drink of their choice. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People told us that their personal care and support was provided in a way which maintained their privacy and dignity. People spoke positively about the way staff treated them and reported that they received appropriate care. Staff demonstrated a good knowledge and understanding of the people they cared for and supported, such as people with a diagnosis of diabetes or dementia.
Complaints were handled and responded to in line with the provider's complaints policy. People and their relatives could give their views on the service and this information was acted upon.
The registered manager had a clear oversight of the service and had quality assurance checks in place which enabled them to organise the service delivery. The service worked closely with other professionals to support the people living at the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 21 April 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.