Archived: Brookvale Lawn

Updated 20 July 2015

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.

We last inspected the home on 9 December 2013. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the essential standards that we assessed.

This inspection took place on 22, 23 and 30 April 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection was brought forward due to concerns we had been made aware of through our notifications and enquiry system. These concerns were regarding staffing levels and care at night. One inspector undertook the inspection.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications about important events which the home is required to send us by law and our previous inspection report.

During the inspection we looked around the premises, observed people eating their lunch and socialising. As part of our observations we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with seven people living in the home, three visitors, eight staff, the registered manager, the nursing manager and a district nurse. We looked at three care plans daily notes, medication records, and a range of records regarding the management of the service, such as audits and staff recruitment records.

Updated 20 July 2015

The home provides accommodation and care for up to 30 people and there were 25 people in residence when we visited, some of whom were living with dementia. The home is over three floors with bedrooms on each floor. The main communal areas are on the ground floor.

This inspection took place on 22, 23 and 30 April and was unannounced.

There was a registered manager in place. 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 and associated Regulations about how the home is run.

People said they felt safe living at the home and that staff met their needs. The registered manager worked in partnership with the local authority safeguarding team when necessary. Safeguarding procedures were in place to protect people from abuse. Risks to people’s wellbeing had been identified and risk assessments were in place to minimise risks. Examples of this were where people needed bed rails or sensor mats to alert staff to people moving out of bed, unsupported. People received their medicines as prescribed and managed them independently where they were able to. Medicines were stored safely and securely.

The provider had a recruitment procedure which included seeking references and completing checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and helps prevent unsuitable people from working with people who use care and support services. These checks had been undertaken before new staff started work. New staff completed an induction and were supported in their work through training, supervision and annual appraisal.

People’s dietary and healthcare needs were met. People felt cared for and staff respected their privacy and dignity when supporting them with personal care. However, some people’s dignity was compromised when using a downstairs toilet and staff did not always wait for permission before entering people’s bedrooms. People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs. The provider employed an activities co-ordinator who provided a range of group and one to one activities.

There was a quality assurance programme in place and people could make complaints, which would be investigated and responded to in a timely way. People could attend ‘resident’s meetings’ and complete questionnaires to give their views on the service provided.

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Regulation 10 (2)(a).

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.