Archived: The Branksome Care Home

Updated 24 December 2015

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 14 October 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we looked at notifications sent to us by the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. Before the inspection the provider completed a provider information return (PIR).This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also spoke with local health and social care commissioners responsible for contracting and monitoring people’s care at the home.

During the inspection we spoke with six people who lived at the service, four relatives, five staff, the interim manager and the regional manager. Throughout the day, we observed the administration of peoples medicines as well as care practice and general interactions between the people and staff.

We looked at a range of records, which , included two people’s care plans and supporting documents. We also looked at two staff employment records and audits relating to the running of the service. This included the providers safety checks of people’s medicines and the environment.

As some people at The Branksome were living with dementia, we used a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us to understand the experiences of people who could not talk to us.

Updated 24 December 2015

The Branksome Care Home is registered to provide nursing and personal care for up to 34 people. On the day of our inspection 33 people were receiving care.

The Branksome is required to have a registered manager. The provider was in the process of recruiting a new manager who would register with the Care Quality Commission once appointed. The provider had an interim manager in post until the new manager was recruited.

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.

At this inspection people told us they felt safe. People were protected and informed against harm and abuse. People’s relatives and staff were confident concerns would be treated seriously.

People and their relatives were happy with the support and care being provided. Everyone felt the needs of people were being met. People told us that staff treated them with compassion and respect.

Staff were knowledgeable about the needs of people. People were assisted and cared for by staff who were kind and friendly. People’s individual rights and their needs, choices and preferences were all respected by the staff.

Staff received the training, support and supervision they needed to perform their role and responsibilities. Staff understood and followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) to obtain people’s consent or appropriate authorisation for their care.

People were supported and encouraged to make choices and decisions about their care and daily living arrangements. Where people were unable to do so, staff recorded how decisions were made in people’s best interests.

People were supported to engage and participate in a range of social and recreational activities, which met with their choices and preferences. People were supported to maintain relationships with friends and families.

We saw there was enough staff to respond to people’s needs in a timely manner. Staffing arrangements were sufficient and regularly reviewed to ensure people’s changing needs were met.

The provider’s arrangements helped to make sure that staff were safely recruited and fit to provide people’s care at the service. We saw pre-employment checks were completed for all staff, these included Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, proof of identity and written references. Nurses’ professional registration status was checked annually.

Systems were in place to ensure medicines were safely stored, administered and disposed of.

Medicines were safely managed and in line with current guidance and legislation. Nurses administered medicines and received training to ensure their practice was safe.

There were systems in place to enable the manager to audit, monitor and assess the quality of the service. Any concerns or complaints people had were responded to and resolved by the management team.