Bramley Court

Updated 10 June 2023

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors 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.

Service and service type

Bramley Court is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation, nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Bramley Court is a 3 storey care home with nursing care. Each floor has named units to aid people's orientation. 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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the 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. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection. We also used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 22 February 2023 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 people who used the service, 9 relatives and 2 friends visiting a person. We also spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager, a visiting regional manager, head of nursing, head of quality, nursing staff, care staff, and members of the house keeping team.

We reviewed a range of records, this included 3 people's care records. We looked at 4 people's medicines' records and 2 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were also reviewed, including water and fire safety,, incident records, residents' and staff meeting minutes, compliments, quality assurance processes, complaints, audits, policies, and procedures.

Updated 10 June 2023

About the service

Bramley Court is residential care home providing accommodation, nursing and personal care to up to 72 people. The service provides support to older people some of whom were living with dementia. Each person’s accommodation included en-suite facilities with shared communal areas. The home is divided into 3 units, called Damson, Pear, and Cherry. At the time of our inspection there was 67 people using the service.

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

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and knew how to do this. The service had enough safely recruited staff who were appropriately skilled and knew people's needs to help keep them safe.

Risks to people were identified and systems in place to reduce them, including falls, skin integrity, eating and drinking and accessible means for people to go outdoors. However, we found staff had temporarily left a mobility aid blocking a fire escape. The registered manager removed this immediately. They told us our inspection had interrupted their walk round which covered checking fire escapes. Audit records and fire safety checks showed these areas were covered on a daily basis. Lessons were learned and shared across the staff teams as required with reflective practice sessions being available so staff could learn what to do better next time.

Staff had regular, effective medicines administration training and had their competency assessed to do this safely. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that respected their independence and achieved positive health outcomes. People were enabled to administer their own medicines independently where this was safe. One person told us, “I don’t have any worries about my medication. I know what I take and I am full of admiration for [staff], they bring it on time and make sure I take it.”

The service was clean and suitably equipped to meet people's support needs. One relative told us, “There are never any unpleasant smells here.”

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. One person told us that when they asked staff to help them go outside, this was enabled.

Staff were reminded of their responsibilities in meetings, such as for medicines administration recording. The provider set high standards of care and there was an embedded open staff team culture. All staff spoken with praised the registered manager for being approachable, listening and acting on concerns raised including reporting any concerns staff may have.

Management and quality assurance teams were in place to effectively evaluate the quality of support provided to people, and to make changes as needed. This involved people, their families, advocates and other professionals as appropriate. Staff respected people's wishes, needs and rights and values and acted upon their views. People had a say in how the service was run. People’s lives were enriched by staff who put people first and foremost. One relative said, "It is definitely a place I would recommend to others if they needed care. I know my [family member] is in the right place being able to [spend their life in a way they want to]."

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was outstanding, published on 16 January 2020.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service, concerns received about people's care and support, risks to people's safety, the staff team culture and management of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Where the provider had already identified risks, actions taken had been effective. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained outstanding based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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