Holbrook Hall

Updated 9 January 2021

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.

As part of CQC's response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures.

This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 15 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 9 January 2021

About the service

Holbrook Hall is a residential care home that was providing personal care for up to 36 people with a range of needs. At the time of the inspection there were 31 people living in the home.

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

People who lived at the home continued to receive good care and told us they felt safe. Staff knew how to manage risks effectively and identify signs and symptoms of abuse and who to report concerns to. Accidents and incidents had been reported and medical attention sought where required. Improvements were required to ensure post falls observations were documented. Improvements had been made to medicines management. However further improvements were required to medicines administration practices. We made a recommendation about this. People were protected through robust recruitment procedures and told us there were enough staff to response to their needs. People lived in well maintained and clean environment and were protected from the risk of infections.

Care plans contained personalised information on people’s health and communication needs plus their likes and dislikes. However, improvements were required to ensure all care plans provided to staff were up to date and reviews completed to show changes to people’s needs. We have made a recommendation about this. People were provided with activities of their choice and supported to keep active in the community. People were able to make complaints concerning their care. People were supported to share their end of life wishes and care preferences.

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 were asked to consent to care. Staff had received training and were knowledgeable about the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were supported by staff who were trained and had the skills to provide effective care. Staff felt very supported by the registered manager and management team. People’s nutritional needs were assessed and met. Staff worked with community health professionals to ensure people received effective care.

People told us staff treated them with dignity and were respectful. Our observations supported these views. One person told us, “The staff are excellent, friendly and helpful. One cannot fault them, they are more or less friends.” We saw lots of positive interactions between people and staff, no one was rushed, and activities were person-centred. One person told us, “The staff are very good, they do their best, they do care and treat you like a human being.”

The service was well-led. People, their relatives and staff spoke positively about the registered manager and management team. There was a positive culture throughout the service which focused on providing care that was individualised and promoted independence.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 09 March 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.