Archived: The Brambles

Updated 30 January 2016

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 12 January 2016 and was unannounced. It was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) before the inspection. The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. We also looked at notifications sent in by the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law. We looked at previous inspection reports and other information we held about the home before we visited.

At the time of this inspection there were seven people living at the home. During the inspection we met each person. We spoke with six members of staff and a visitor.

We looked at a sample of records relating to the running of the home and to the care of individuals. These included the care records of two people who lived at the home. We also looked at records relating to staff recruitment, the management and administration of people’s medicines, health and safety and quality assurance.

Updated 30 January 2016

This inspection took place on 12 January 2016 and was an unannounced inspection.

The Brambles is a single storey building situated close to Taunton town centre. The home can accommodate up to seven people and it specialises in providing care to adults who have a learning disability. The home has a range of aids and adaptations in place to assist people who have mobility difficulties. All bedrooms are for single occupancy. The home is staffed 24 hours a day.

At the time of our inspection there were seven people living at the home. The people we met with had complex physical and learning disabilities and were not able to tell us about their experiences of life at the home. We therefore used our observations of care and our discussions with staff to help form our judgements.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

The registered manager was not available for this inspection; however information sent to us prior to the inspection told us the registered manager had a clear vision for the service. This was also confirmed by the staff we spoke with.

People were supported by a caring staff team who knew them well. Staff morale was good and there was a happy and relaxed atmosphere in the home.

Routines in the home were flexible and were based around the needs and preferences of the people who lived there. People were able to plan their day with staff and they were supported to access social and leisure activities in the home and local community.

The home was a safe place for people. Staffing levels were good and staff understood people’s needs and provided the care and support they needed.

Staff knew how to recognise and report abuse. They had received training in safeguarding adults from abuse and they knew the procedures to follow if they had concerns.

People’s health care needs were monitored and met. People received good support from health and social care professionals. Staff were skilled at communicating with people, especially if

people were unable to communicate verbally.

People were unable to look after their own medicines. Staff made sure medicines were stored securely and there were sufficient supplies of medicines. People received their medicines when they needed them.

People were always asked for their consent before staff assisted them with any tasks and staff knew the procedures to follow to make sure people’s legal and human rights were protected.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.