Brambles Care Home

Updated 21 December 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Brambles Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we already held about this service. This included details of its registration, previous inspection reports and notifications of any serious incidents the provider had sent us. We contacted the host local authority to seek their views about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, home manager, care supervisor, head cook and two care assistants. We observed how staff interacted with people.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at six staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 21 December 2019

About the service

Brambles Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 26 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 28 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People, relatives and staff all gave overwhelmingly positive feedback of the service. A relative summed this up when they told us, “The staff, the building, the whole concept of care, it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s one lovely family.”

Care and support was of an excellent standard and person centred. Care plans were in place which set out how to meet people’s individual needs and people themselves were involved in deciding upon and planning their care. People’s communication needs were assessed and met in an accessible way which showed innovation in the use of technology. A wide range of activities, both in house and in the community, were provided. These were not only chosen by people, in some instances they ran them as well. Arrangements were in place to provide caring and sensitive support to people at the end of life stage of care which supported people to make choices and family to be involved. There was a complaints procedure in place and complaints received had been dealt with in line with the procedure.

The service was exceptionally well managed. People, relatives and staff all told us how approachable and supportive the registered manager was and the whole management ethos demonstrated an open and inclusive culture. The management helped promote positive outcomes for people that reflected their wishes and promoted equality and diversity. The registered manager worked closely with other agencies to share and develop best practice.

The provider had systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Risk assessments were in place which provided guidance on how to support people safely, although people were able to take risks where they had the capacity to make decisions about this. There were enough staff working at the service and robust checks were carried out on staff to check their suitability. Medicines were stored and administered in a safe way and people were able to manage their own medicines where appropriate. The home was clean, and steps were taken to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. Accidents and incidents were recorded and reviewed so lessons could be learned of things went wrong.

Assessments were carried out of people’s needs before they moved in and people were invited to visit the home to help them decide if it was suitable for them. Staff had the knowledge and skills to support people. People told us they liked the food and most people said there was plenty of choice. The service met people’s healthcare needs and ensured they had access to relevant healthcare professionals. People were supported to have maximum choice and control over 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 were able to consent to the care they received and make choices over their daily lives.

People were treated in a kind and caring way by staff and staff understood the importance of promoting people’s dignity, privacy and independence. The service met people’s needs in relation to equality, diversity and human rights issues. The provider took steps to protect people’s right to confidentiality.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last

The last rating for this service was good (published 22 April 2017).

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.