We inspected Bradley House Nursing Home on 15 and 16 December 2015. The first day of the inspection was unannounced.Bradley House Nursing Home provides nursing care for up to 34 older people. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people living in the home. People were supported in one building over four floors. In the basement area there was room for seven people to receive nursing care; all the rooms were single bedrooms, there was a shared bathroom and a communal lounge and dining area in a large conservatory. Nine people could be accommodated on the ground floor; bedrooms were all singles, there was a shared bathroom, a combined lounge and dining area and a quiet lounge. There were rooms for 13 people on the first floor; these were a mixture of single and twin bedrooms and they shared a bathroom and a communal lounge and dining area. There were five bedrooms on the attic floor; people there shared a toilet and used the communal bathrooms and lounge/dining rooms on the other floors during the day. All floors could be accessed by a lift. A separate part of the basement also contained the registered manager’s office, the staff room, some storage areas and the laundry.
The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
Our last inspection took place on 14 April 2015. At that time the service was not meeting all the legal requirements. During this inspection we checked to see if improvements had been made.
Some corridors and communal areas were cluttered. There were no risk assessments in place for various aspects of the care home premises; for example, stair gates, steep steps, the kitchen or laundry room.
Not all of the people living at the home had a personal emergency evacuation plan in place. They might therefore be at risk in the event of a fire or other emergency situation.
We found that the registered manager had not reported all safeguarding incidents to CQC as is required by the regulations and staff had not received regular safeguarding training.
Staff training and development was not up to date and the induction process for new staff was not documented.
There was a lack of consistent and effective audit at the service. This was noted at the last inspection and constituted an ongoing breach of the regulation relating to good governance.
We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulation 2014. You can see what action we have told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
Most aspects of medicines management were done well at the home; however, we found that not all ‘as required’ medications had instructions for staff. We recommended that the registered manager reviews and improves current practice in line with nationally available good practice.
There were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs and the home employed a flexible system to minimise the use of agency care staff. Care workers had time to assist the activities coordinator to provide activities for the people who used the service. There was a full time activities coordinator at the home who kept records of the activities people had taken part in as well as those that people had refused, so that care workers knew which activities individuals preferred.
The registered manager ensured all the necessary checks were done on new staff before they were employed at the home. Appropriate checks were done in relation to existing nursing staff on an annual basis.
At our last inspection there was a breach in regulation as we noted there were issues with cleanliness and some décor was seen to be in need of improvement. During the inspection, apart from some minor issues that we brought to the registered manager’s attention, the home was clean and tidy but cluttered in places. People’s relatives told us they thought the home was clean.
Staff were receiving regular supervision and were due to receive an annual appraisal at their next planned supervision session. This had been an area of concern at our last inspection but we saw evidence that this had been remedied.
The home was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Applications for DoLS had been made to the local authority and care workers had a good knowledge of the legislation and how it applied to the people they supported. We saw capacity assessments and best interest decision meetings were documented in people’s care files.
Feedback on the food served at the home was positive. We saw that people were supported to eat when they needed it. The cook knew people’s dietary needs and food preferences and tried to ensure people were provided with food they enjoyed.
People were supported to maintain their holistic health by access to other healthcare professionals, such as GPs, dieticians, podiatrists and mental health specialists.
People and their relatives told us that the care staff were caring. Staff at the home we spoke with could tell us people’s likes, dislikes and preferences, as well as details about their personal history. Interactions we observed between care workers and people during our inspection were warm and respectful.
At the last inspection there was a breach in regulation as people’s care plans were not person-centred and not always completed fully. At this inspection we found that people’s care plans were person-centred and complete and people and their relatives were involved in developing them. People’s bedrooms were personalised with their furniture, ornaments and photographs. Relatives told us they could visit at any time and said that they thought the building was homely and welcoming.
We saw that the service referred people to advocacy services when they needed them. The home had received positive feedback from relatives after people had received end of life care there. Care staff we spoke with were passionate about providing good quality end of life care at the home.
The service was responsive to people’s changing care needs. Risk assessments and care plans were evaluated and reviewed regularly. There was a system in place for recording various aspects of care that people received, including an innovative system for recording night care interventions.
The complaints procedure was displayed in the home and there was a policy in place for reporting, recording and responding to complaints. No complaints had been made since our last inspection, however, people and their relatives told us they would speak to the registered manager if they had any problems. Feedback from the people, their relatives and care workers about the registered manager and director was positive.
The home sought the views of people’s relatives in order to improve the service. Feedback from the last survey published in April 2015 and an action plan to address the issues raised in the survey was displayed.
Staff had regular team meetings at which good practice was discussed and the management asked for feedback and ideas for service improvement. The service had an ‘employee of the month’ scheme in order to reward and motivate staff.
We saw that the registered manager was committed to providing evidence-based practice at the home; she provided examples of how national guidance and government advice had been used to update practice at the home.