The Brandles

The Brandles is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to 7 people with mental health difficulties and people who have a learning disability. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

People were supported to have choice and control over their lives. People were encouraged to remain active and chose the activities they engaged in. Staff understood people and their individual needs well. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their needs.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood people's cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. People’s needs were assessed and reviewed, and their care was person-centred.

Right Culture

The provider checked the quality of care people received and plans were in place to update the governance framework even further. The manager agreed the service needed to be better informed around the guidance for COVID-19, but plans were implemented to improve oversight. 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 have made a recommendation about capturing people’s health conditions within their care plans.

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 17 December 2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good (published 1 February 2020).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk. This inspection examined those risks.

This inspection also assessed whether the service is applying the principles of right support, right care, right culture.

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.

Follow up

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

We found the following examples of good practice.

The home was clean and hygienic. The staff followed national and local guidance during the outbreak they were dealing with at the time of our inspection. Rigorous systems were in place to ensure good levels of hygiene.

Risks in relation to visitors had been assessed and action taken to ensure visits were still in place at the service and through skype calls as well as window visits.

Although we found the provider was following the latest guidance from Public Health England (PHE) for care homes, the provider’s policy and procedures on managing the risks associated with COVID-19 needed to be reviewed, so this was in line with the latest guidance from PHE. The registered manager provided assurances their policies and procedures would be soon reviewed.

The home has not experienced any staffing issues, however the registered manager commented that the home was looking to recruit an additional staff member to increase staffing cover for any shortfalls. Regular audits around IPC practices were undertaken.

Staff had access to supplies of PPE and had received training to ensure they used this correctly. All staff and people living at the service had regular testing for COVID-19, and all had received their vaccinations.

The registered manager sought support and advice from external agencies including the local health protection team and CQC and was open to all advice and guidance offered.

Further information is in the detailed findings below