The Brambles Rest Home

Updated 14 April 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Brambles Rest Home is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. The manager told us they had started the process of applying to the CQC to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

The first day of the inspection was unannounced. The second day of the inspection was announced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information we had received from the public and notifications sent to us by the provider. We sought feedback from the local authority. This information helps support our inspection planning.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the manager and three care staff. We also spoke with the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We observed the interactions between people and staff and walked around the service to review the environment.

We spoke with five relatives. We did this so we could hear their views.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including checks and audits were reviewed.

Updated 14 April 2022

About the service

The Brambles Rest Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 25 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 32 people in one adapted building.

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

People received care and support in a clean and homely environment. Recruitment processes were followed to help ensure only suitable people were employed and staffing was arranged to ensure people’s needs could be met. Medicines were managed safely, and accidents and incidents were reviewed, and action taken to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.

Care records contained risk assessments and person - centered information to ensure staff knew how to promote people’s safety. These were reviewed and changes made if this was needed. People were consulted and asked their views on the service provided. Surveys had been completed by people who lived at the home and meetings were held where people could share their views. Audits and checks were carried out and action plans developed to drive improvement.

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 16 July 2021). We recommended the provider implement best practice guidance in relation to medicines management and person-centered record keeping. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

Why we inspected

This was a focused inspection based on the previous rating. We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We undertook this inspection at the same time as CQC inspected a range of urgent and emergency care services in Lancashire and South Cumbria. To understand the experience of social care Providers and people who use social care services, we asked a range of questions in relation to accessing urgent and emergency care. The responses we received have been used to inform and support system wide feedback.

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 changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Brambles Rest Home 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.