Bridge House Nursing Home

Updated 13 December 2022

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by three inspectors.

Service and service type

Bridge House Nursing 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. Bridge House Nursing 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.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at all the information we held about the service including notifications. A notification is information about events that the registered persons are required, by law, to tell us about. We checked information held by Companies House and we looked at online reviews. We reviewed the findings at our last inspection. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who use the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 14 members of staff including the registered manager, clinical manager, one nurse, one senior carer, six carers, two activities co-ordinators, one housekeeper and one administrator. We reviewed a range of records including five people’s care records and five medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 13 December 2022

About the service

Bridge House Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 54 people. The service provides support to older adults who may also have a physical disability, sensory impairment or dementia. Bridge House Nursing Home accommodates people across two separate buildings, which have separate adapted facilities. One of the buildings specialises in providing respite and rehabilitation to people and external physiotherapists visit the home daily.

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

The registered manager ensured infection prevention and control guidance was followed to keep people and staff safe. People reported they felt safe living at the service.

Care plans were person centred and included the input of the relevant people. The environment in the home had improved from previous inspections including improvement in decoration and signage around the service. However, further development is still required. This was acknowledged by the registered manager and operations director.

People told us they felt staff were caring. The service supported people to be as independent as possible. People felt involved in their care and care plans were reviewed regularly to meet the needs of the person.

People’s communication needs were assessed, and staff were aware if a person required further support with their communication. People and relatives told us they were aware of how to raise a complaint with the service. Staff worked well with people, families and health and social care agencies to support people’s wellbeing.

The service had an open and transparent way of working to ensure the safety of the people living at the service. The provider was able to demonstrate that quality assurance systems ensured the quality of the service improved. There was a positive culture amongst staff at the service. Staff knew people they supported well and cared about their wellbeing. The provider was able to demonstrate their compliance with legal obligations and any learning from incidents or accidents was undertaken effectively.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 3 November 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider reviewed their staff training, documentation regarding people’s abilities to make decisions and learning from incidents and accidents. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendations and they had made improvements.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 21 and 22 September 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve the premises, medicine management, staff recruitment records and governance.

We undertook this comprehensive inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bridge House Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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