Millbrook House

Updated 29 June 2018

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.

The inspection commenced on 7 June 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection continued on 8 June 2018 and was announced. The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience on the first day and by one inspector on the second day. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. They had experience in dementia care and care home services.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service. This included notifications the home had sent us. A notification is the means by which providers tell us important information that affects the running of the service and the care people receive. We contacted the local authority to obtain their views about the service.

We had requested and received a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed this information prior to the inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with seven people who used the service and four relatives. We also spoke with four members of staff and the registered manager. We gathered feedback from two professionals who had knowledge about the service. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk with us.

We looked at a range of records during the inspection, these included four care records. We also looked at information relating to the management of the service including quality assurance audits, health and safety records, policies, risk assessments and meeting minutes. We looked at three staff files, the recruitment process, training and supervision records.

Updated 29 June 2018

Millbrook House is a residential care home for 33 older people, some of whom have dementia. The building offers accommodation over three floors with lift access to each floor. People have access to communal lounge and dining areas, several other seating areas a conservatory and a large, fully accessible rear garden. There were four rooms which could be used for double occupancy and there were 25 people living at the home at the time of inspection.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People were protected from the risks of abuse and staff understood how to report any concerns. Risks people faced were understood and safely managed and people received their medicines as prescribed. There were enough, safely recruited staff to support people and staff were familiar to people. Where there were any accidents or incidents, these were recorded and any actions and learning shared with staff.

People had their needs assessed before moving to Millbrook House and the information was used as the basis for care plans. People had choices about all aspects of their care and we observed staff seeking consent from people about their care and treatment. People were positive about the meal options available to them and had access to healthcare professionals where needed.

Staff were kind and compassionate in their approach and interactions were caring and tactile. Staff knew people well and understood peoples preferences. Visitors were welcomed and professionals involved with the service were positive about staff understanding of people’s needs and interactions. People had their privacy and dignity respected and were enabled to be as independent as they wished.

People were supported to spend time in a variety of social opportunities and there were plans in place to further consider individual social opportunities for people. People and relatives were involved in decisions about their support and care plans were regularly reviewed. Feedback indicated that people and relatives would be confident to raise concerns if they needed to. End of life preferences were recorded for each person.

The registered manager was in the process of considering new electronic care plan systems and was focussing on ensuring that any system chosen would enable Millbrook House to record personal preferences, likes and dislikes for people to ensure that care plans were individualised.

People, relatives and staff were positive about the management of the home and feedback was sought through meetings, surveys and informally. Staff were positive about their roles and responsibilities and received regular supervision and training. Quality assurance processes were regular and used to discuss as a management team where changes and actions were required.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.