Archived: Brook House

Updated 21 December 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one inspection manager on the first day and one inspector on the second day.

Service and service type

Brook House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people using the service, two visiting relatives, four members of the care team, the owner of the service, the registered manager and two members of the activity team.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed a range of records including each person’s medicine chart. We looked at six care plans and records associated with the care plans. We also looked at records relating to the way the service was run.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at fire inspection records.

Updated 21 December 2019

About the service

Brook House is a residential and nursing home and was providing personal and nursing care to 30 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 35 people.

Brook House is an older style property which has been adapted to provide facilities and accommodation for people with a range of physical needs.

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

People and their relatives were complimentary about the service. One relative told us, “I am very pleased with the care here. The staff are amazing. One person told us, “They can’t do enough for you.”

Staff we spoke with confirmed they had received training in safeguarding and knew what action to take if they felt people were being abused. Recruitment files confirmed staff had been safely recruited.

Risks associated with people’s care and support needs had been identified and actions taken to minimise risks. Care plans were individualised and reflected people’s preferences.

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.

We observed staff interacting in a positive way. People told us they enjoyed living at the service.

Staff had been trained in the administration of medicines. People received their medicines in line with the prescriber’s instructions.

Staff received an induction when they first joined the service and regular training was completed and refreshed when required. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and had received regular supervisions and support.

People were able to take part in community social events and an in-house activities programme was available.

A complaints procedure was in place. Relatives told us they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. The provider had a quality auditing system in place. Accidents and incidents were documented and reviewed as necessary.

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 14 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.