This inspection took place on 27 September 2016 and was unannounced. The home was last inspected on 2 April 2014 and the registered provider was compliant with the regulations in force at that time. The home is registered to provide accommodation and care for up to 39 older people, including people who are living with dementia. On the day of the inspection, there were 35 people living at the home. The home is situated in Marple, close to Stockport, in Greater Manchester. The premises had two floors and the first floor was accessed by a passenger lift. There were attractive gardens and car parking spaces to the front of the premises.
The registered provider is required to have a registered manager in post and on the day of the inspection there was a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC 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.
On the day of the inspection we saw that there were sufficient numbers of staff employed to meet people's individual needs. However, we found the home’s recruitment and selection policies and procedures had not been operated effectively. This meant there was a lack of evidence that only people considered suitable to work with vulnerable people were employed at Brabyns House.
This was a breach of Regulation 19 (2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
Some notifications had not been submitted to CQC as required by regulation. This meant that we were not able to determine whether appropriate action had been taken following any accidents or incidents.
This was a breach of Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009: Notifications of other incidents.
Staff told us they were well supported by the registered manager and senior staff group. They confirmed that they received induction training when they were new in post and told us they were happy with the training provided for them.
People told us that they felt safe living at the home. People were protected from the risks of harm or abuse because there were effective systems in place to manage any safeguarding concerns. Staff were trained in safeguarding adults from abuse and understood their responsibilities in respect of protecting people from the risk of harm.
There was evidence that the registered provider was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
We checked medication systems and saw that medicines were stored, recorded and administered safely, although minor improvements were needed. Staff who had responsibility for the administration of medication had received appropriate training.
People who lived at the home and relatives told us that staff were very caring and that they respected people’s privacy and dignity. We saw that there were positive relationships between people who lived at the home, relatives and staff, and that staff had a good understanding of people’s individual care and support needs.
People’s family and friends were made welcome at the home. A variety of activities were provided to meet people’s individual needs, and people were encouraged to take part.
People told us they were very happy with the food provided. We saw that people's nutritional needs had been assessed and their individual food and drink requirements were met.
There were systems in place to seek feedback from people who lived at the home, relatives and staff. People told us they were confident their complaints and concerns would be listened to. Any complaints made to the home had been investigated and appropriate action had been taken to make any identified improvements.
Staff, people who lived at the home and relatives told us that the home was well managed. Quality audits undertaken by the registered manager were designed to identify that systems at the home were protecting people’s safety and well-being, and we saw that some audits had resulted in improvements being made.