Brendoncare Stildon Mews

Updated 29 November 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 14 November 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We needed to make sure that staff would be in the office for us to speak with and to arrange visits for us to observe care being given in people’s homes. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Before the inspection we checked the information that we held about the service and the provider. This included previous inspection reports and statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law.

We visited the central office, a communal space for people to use and we met with a person in their own home, to observe care and support being provided. We observed care being given and observed a coffee morning for people living in the flats. We observed interactions between staff and people. We spoke with two people using the service, a person’s partner, we spoke to two staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager. We spent time looking at records including four care records, two staff files, staff training plans, meeting minutes, audits and other records relating to the management of the service.

We contacted health and social care professionals who had knowledge of working with the service.

Updated 29 November 2018

Brendoncare Stildon Mews is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care services to an extra care scheme where people live independently in their own flats. There were 11 flats in a purpose-built building. At the time of our inspection, four people were being provided with personal care. The service provides care and support to people with varied personal care needs, several of whom were living with memory loss, dementia or long-term health conditions.

The flats were equipped with alarms to alert staff to emergencies between care calls. A communal space with a small kitchen and table and chairs is available for the people living in the flats to meet socially and do activities.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection..

Staff continued to have a good understanding of safeguarding adults at risk and knew how to recognise signs of abuse. At the time of the inspection people administered their own medicines. Accidents and incidents had been recorded and appropriate action had been taken and recorded by the registered manager.

People and their relatives felt safe using the service and that staff were trustworthy. People continued to receive personalised care that supported them. People continued to receive safe care and treatment. Risks to people’s health and safety were appropriately assessed. People were protected from infection.

People were supported by staff that knew them well, understood their needs, treated them as an individual and looked at providing additional assistance if a person’s needs changed.

We observed staff treating people and discussing people’s needs with dignity, sensitivity and respect. Staff supported people to make decisions about their care and welfare. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff felt fully supported by the registered manager and deputy manager to undertake their roles. Staff continued to receive training to support them with their role to ensure they could meet people's needs effectively. The provider invested in additional staff training and career development.

The service continued to be well led by the registered manager who had a clear vision and values for the service which was embedded in the care given and in the conduct of staff. Staff and the management team promoted an ethos of treating people as an individual, this was confirmed in what people told us and in the care observed during the inspection.

There was a robust governance framework in place to monitor the quality of care and support was provided.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.