Brookside Residential Home

Updated 13 February 2024

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

The 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

Brookside is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Brookside 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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had been in post for just over 2 weeks and planned to submit an application to register. Once submitted, we will assess this application.

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 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 spoke with 8 people living in the home and 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including care workers, senior staff, deputy manager, registered manager, and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We received feedback from 1 visiting professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed, including policies and procedures and health and safety documents.

Updated 13 February 2024

About the service

Brookside is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 29 people. The service provides support to older and younger adults, people with mental health concerns and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, there were 28 people living in the home. Care was provided in 1 adapted building, there were communal rooms available for people to enjoy.

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

Risks to people were not always effectively monitored or assessed. Environmental risks were not always safely managed. Potentially harmful substances were not always stored away safely. Quality audits were taking place; however, these had not identified some of the discrepancies found during this inspection. Some care plans contained conflicting or out of date information and auditing systems required improvement to monitor potential risk.

The provider acted on all areas of feedback during this inspection. The manager was new to the service and shared plans to improve the quality auditing processes, including the introduction of a new electronic monitoring system. We will review the success of these new systems in our next inspection.

People told us they felt safe living in the home and with the staff who supported them. There were enough staff on duty to support people safely and staff were recruited safely. Staff received safeguarding training and were confident to report their concerns.

People and relatives told us the culture in the home was positive and they felt included in the service. The manager worked in partnership with other professionals and health care services, and a visiting professional told us the manager actively communicated any changes or concerns.

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.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 3 March 2022).

Why we inspected

We received concerns regarding incident and risk management. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this report.

The provider responded to all of our feedback and introduced new quality monitoring systems. We will review the success of these systems in the next inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘All inspection reports and timeline’ link for Brookside Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to risk management, storing harmful products safely and overall governance 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 from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.