17 October 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Bracken House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 34 people. The service provides support to older people some of whom are living with dementia. The care home accommodates people in 1 adapted building across 2 floors. There are 3 communal lounges downstairs and a dining area. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service, 2 of whom were on respite placements.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Cleaning schedules were in place and the home was generally clean. However, systems in place failed to ensure the carpet cleaner was replaced in a timely manner when it was broken which meant stained carpets were not always cleaned effectively. Systems in place were not always effective in ensuring decision specific mental capacity assessments were recorded when needed. Systems were in place to check the quality of the service. Audits were undertaken and actions identified were overseen by senior management. Whilst we saw evidence of a number of actions being addressed by the provider, sufficient action was not always taken to address environmental risks identified.
People told us they felt safe, and relatives felt people were safe. Staff had completed safeguarding training and knew how to keep people safe. People had risk assessments in place for moving and handling and clinical risks and staff followed them. People were supported by a sufficient number of competent staff. People told us staff were available to support them when needed and they made them feel safe. People were supported by staff who were recruited safely and were required to complete an induction when they commenced their employment. People’s medicines were administered safely, and protocols were in place to guide staff when to administer ‘when required’ medicines. Where medicines errors occurred, action was taken to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
The provider analysed accidents and incidents data to identify themes with a view to reducing the risk of reoccurrence. Staff told us the morale at the home had improved and people liked living at the home. The provider sought feedback from people, relatives, and staff to try to improve the care provided. The management team were open and honest when things went wrong and were proactive in seeking learning opportunities.
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.
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 1 December 2022). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations. However, the service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to unwitnessed falls, the governance of the service and management of medicines. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
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 remained as requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the well led section of this full report. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bracken 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.