Brambledown Road

Updated 29 March 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.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Brambledown Road 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. Brambledown Road is a care home without 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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had just started working at the service and they intended to apply to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met the 7 people living at the service. We spoke with 4 relatives and 5 staff, including 2 care workers, the new manager, a manager who had previously provided oversight of the service and the operations director. We reviewed 2 people’s care records and records relating to staffing, the management of the home and medicines.

Updated 29 March 2023

About the service

Brambledown Road is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to support up to 7 adults with a learning disability and/or autism. At the time of our inspection 7 people were using the service.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: 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. Staff supported people to manage and mitigate any risks to their safety. Staff only used physical restraint as a last resort and any chemical restraint was clearly documented and reviewed by senior members of staff. People received their medicines safely.

Right Care: The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. However, there were concerns from staff and relatives that recent changes to staffing levels were impacting on the level and quality of engagement with people at the service and opportunities to access activities in the community.

Right Culture: In the months preceding our inspection the service had been without a permanent manager. During this time there had been a lack of oversight and leadership at the service to ensure consistent good practice. However, there was a new manager who was in the process of identifying and addressing areas that required improvement. This included improvements required to ensure a safe, clean and hygienic environment was provided.

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 2 July 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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