Archived: Branksome House

Updated 9 April 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Branksome House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Branksome is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the area manager, registered manager, a visiting registered manager from one of the provider's other local services, two support workers and a cleaner. We observed staff supporting people including during lunch. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records.

After the inspection

We reviewed provider audits and trackers, including records of staff training, competency and supervision checks. Feedback received by the service and Branksome House’s action plan.

Updated 9 April 2022

About the service

Branksome House is a residential care home, registered to provide personal care for up to nine adults with mental health, learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorder needs. At the time of the inspection, four people were living at the service.

Following refurbishment, Branksome House can accommodate up to seven people over three floors, in one adapted building. The service has wheelchair accessible bedrooms with en-suites on the ground floor. First floor bedrooms have en-suites and there is a communal bathroom on the first floor. The first and second floor bedrooms are accessed via stairs. People had access to the lounge and an enclosed accessible rear garden and were supported to access the dining room and kitchen by staff.

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

People felt safe and supported at Branksome House and had chosen to live there over other alternatives. People's health related risks had been assessed and timely referrals to health and social care professionals were made when people’s needs changed. Care records included recommendations by health care professionals. Improvements had been made since our last inspection to ensure choking and infection control risks were managed in line with health professionals’ recommendations, provider policies and national guidance.

The provider continued to develop and improve their governance and monitoring systems which included tracking systems to ensure their required checks were completed. Audits had been completed and an action plan was in place. People's feedback had been sought.

People looked healthy and were well cared for. They were supported to express their individuality through their personal choices. People were supported by staff who had received appropriate training and support and whose competency in key areas had been checked.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

Based on our review of the Effective and Well-Led domains, we found the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The service was situated in a residential street, close to local amenities. People's choices were supported and they were involved in setting goals to increase their independence. People were treated with care and dignity and their right to privacy was respected. Positive changes in one person’s needs and well-being since moving into the service were evident.

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's capacity to make decisions had been assessed. Where restrictions were needed to keep people safe, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications had been made to authorise these. People's wishes were established through a variety of communication techniques, including use of signing.

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

Rating at last inspection and update: The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 December 2021) and there was a breach of regulation. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 8 November 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Branksome House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.