Archived: Brownscombe Lodge

Brownscombe Lodge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 16 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. This included some people living with dementia. The service can support up to 24 people in one purpose-built building.

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

People told us they felt safe living at Brownscombe House. One person told us, “I’ve always felt safe here.” Staff were recruited safely but there were times during the day when the service needed more staff on duty. This was addressed by the manager immediately following the inspection. The home was clean and had safe infection prevention and control practices and procedures in place.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. This was because best interest decisions had not been recorded for people when they had been assessed as not having mental capacity to make decisions about some aspects of their care.

Not all staff working at the service had received regular supervision and we saw there was a delay before people received some meals. People we spoke to told us this was a regular occurrence. People’s needs had been thoroughly assessed before they moved to Brownscombe Lodge and access to healthcare professionals was well supported.

People spoke positively about living at Brownscombe Lodge and liked the staff who supported them. People were treated kindly and had their privacy and dignity protected.

Care plans and other documents detailed people's care needs and staff used these to provide people with the right care and support. People were able to do the things they enjoyed and were supported to have contact with people who were important to them.

Management oversight at the service was not always effective. We found that although regular audits of records were carried out, these did not always identify issues at the service which required attention. People living at the service and staff had confidence in the manager and the service worked well with other professionals to improve people’s care.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 26 March 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not been previously inspected.

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.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified a breach in relation to consent for support at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.