• Care Home
  • Care home

Brierton Lodge Care Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Brierton Lane, Hartlepool, Cleveland, TS25 5DP (01429) 868786

Provided and run by:
HC-One No.1 Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 8 September 2023

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 took place on 29 June 2023. 1 inspector, a specialist advisor in nursing care and an Expert by Experience formed the inspection team. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using, or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Brierton Lodge Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Brierton Lodge Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. This meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority, Healthwatch and professionals who work with the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We received feedback from health and social care professionals who work with the service.

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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, nursing staff, care workers and housekeeping.

We spoke with 4 relatives and 3 people who use the service.

We reviewed a range of records including 4 people’s care plans and 4 people's medicine and daily care records. We looked at the recruitment records for 2 staff members. We also looked records relating to the safety and management of the service.

After the inspection

We spoke with 7 relatives to seek their views on how care and support were provided to their loved ones. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence we found.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 8 September 2023

About the service

Brierton Lodge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 58 older people some of whom were living with dementia. The care home accommodates people over two floors in one adapted building. At the time of this inspection there were 57 people living at the service.

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

Risks to people’s safety had been assessed and care plans were in place to guide staff regarding the support people needed. However, information in care plans was hard to navigate. We have made a recommendation about this.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the care and support they received. Comments included, “The staff are second to none. They are amazing. What I have found is how knowledgeable and professional they are with the residents on the dementia unit, and they are all very patient.”

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.

Safe recruitment processes were followed to ensure people were supported by staff with the appropriate experience and were of good character. Staff said they felt supported. Comments included, “Management are fantastic. I’ve seen a lot of changes. [registered manager] is approachable and supportive and wants to improve the home. It’s very much the resident’s home.”

Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify safeguarding concerns and acted on these to keep people safe. There were safe systems in place and people received their medicines when required.

Infection and prevention control processes were in place to support the prevention and spread of infection.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. The registered manager was clear about their role and responsibilities and a home improvement plan was in place to support the development of the service. The service worked in partnership with others including health professionals and the local community.

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 31 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation regarding reviewing care plans.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. Please see the Safe and Well-led section of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.