Archived: Brookholme Care Home

Updated 22 April 2017

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 8 and 14 March 2017. The first day of our inspection visit was unannounced. The inspection visit was carried out by one inspector, a specialist advisor in older person’s nursing care, and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The second day of our inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well, and improvements they plan to make. This was returned to us by the service.

Before our inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications the provider sent us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. For example, notifications of serious injuries or allegations of abuse. We spoke with the local authority and health commissioning teams, and Healthwatch Derbyshire, who are an independent organisation that represents people using health and social care services. Commissioners are people who work to find appropriate care and support services which are paid for by the local authority or by a health clinical commissioning group.

During the inspection we spoke with 15 people who used the service, and four relatives. We also received feedback from one health and social care professional. We spoke with six staff and the registered manager. We also spoke with the provider. We looked at a range of records related to how the service was managed. These included four people’s care records (including their medicine administration records), three staff recruitment and training files, and the provider’s quality auditing system.

Not all of the people living at the service were able to fully express their views about their care. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 22 April 2017

This inspection took place on 8 and 14 March 2017. The service was last inspected on 24 November 2015, when they were rated as Requires Improvement. We asked the provider to send us an action plan to show how they intended to improve the service, and they did this. On this inspection, we found that improvements had been made, and the service now met all requirements of the relevant regulations.

Brookholme Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 40 people. At the time of our inspection, there were 36 people living in the service. The first day of our inspection visit was unannounced.

The service had a registered manager at the time of our inspection visit. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were protected from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. Risks associated with care were identified and assessed. Staff had clear guidance about how to meet people’s individual needs. Care plans were regularly reviewed with people and updated to meet their changing needs and preferences.

People were happy with staff who provided their personal care. They were cared for by sufficient numbers of staff who were suitably skilled, experienced and knowledgeable about people’s needs. People were also supported by staff in a caring way, which ensured they received personal care with dignity and respect.

The provider took action to ensure that potential staff were suitable to work with people needing care. Staff received supervision and had regular checks on their knowledge and skills. They also received regular training in a range of skills the provider felt necessary to meet the needs of people at the service.

The systems for managing medicines were safe, and staff worked in cooperation with health and social care professionals to ensure that people received appropriate healthcare and treatment in a timely manner.

Appropriate arrangements were in place to assess whether people were able to consent to their care. The provider was meeting the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS).

People were supported to be involved in their care planning and delivery. The support people received was tailored to meet their individual needs, wishes and aspirations. People, their relatives, and staff felt able to raise concerns or suggestions in relation to the quality of care. The provider had a complaints procedure to ensure that issues with quality of care were addressed.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and ensure people received safe and effective care. These included seeking and responding to feedback from people in relation to the standard of care. Regular checks were undertaken on all aspects of care provision and actions were taken to improve people’s experience of care.