The Long Brook Residential Home

The Long Brook Residential Home is a care home that provides care and accommodation for up to 24 older people. At the time of the inspection, 24 people lived at the home.

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

Without exception, people told us they were happy living at The Long Brook Residential Home, and were well cared for by kind, caring and compassionate staff. Relatives we spoke with were very complimentary about the standard of care and told us they would recommend the service to others.

We found the service was not always operating in accordance with the regulations and best practice guidance. Systems were either not in place or undertaken robustly to identify and monitor the quality of the service and drive improvements. This meant systems operated by the provider had failed to identify concerns and shortfalls we found during this inspection and could not be relied upon as a source to measure quality and risk.

People were not always protected from the risk of avoidable harm. We found where some risks had been identified, enough action had not always been taken to mitigate those risks and keep people safe.

People’s medicines were not always managed or stored safely.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff were not supporting people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

People were not always protected by safe recruitment procedures.

People were protected from the risk of abuse and received care and support that was responsive to their needs because staff had a good knowledge of the people who lived at the service.

All of the people we spoke with had confidence in the provider and staff team and told us the service was well managed.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 9th February 2021 and this is the first rating inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection for a newly registered service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, recruitment, MCA, staffing and governance at this inspection. We have also made recommendations in relation to the wearing of PPE (personal protective equipment) and management of complaints.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.