Brailsford House

Updated 13 January 2021

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.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe, and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 18 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 13 January 2021

About the service: Brailsford House is a care home for up to 20 older people and people living with dementia. On the day of the inspection 18 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service: People told us they received a good service and felt safe with the support they received from staff. Recruitment processes were in place to make sure the provider only employed workers who were suitable to work in a care setting. Risk assessments arising from people’s health and the environment were in place with plans to mitigate the risk. Medicines were not managed safely; fire drill and evacuation practices were not taking place and there was no record of checks on bed rails or window restrictors. One upstairs window did not have a window restrictor in place. The registered manager said this would be fitted the next day.

Care and support were based on assessments and care plans, which were reviewed and kept up to date. Staff received appropriate training and supervision to maintain and develop their skills and knowledge to support people according to their needs. People's rights were protected by staff who understood the Mental Capacity Act and how this applied to their role. Where appropriate, people were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain their health and welfare. People were supported to access healthcare services, such as GPs.

Care workers had developed caring relationships with people they supported. People were supported to take part in decisions about their care and treatment, and their views were listened to. Staff respected people's independence, privacy, and dignity.

People's care and support considered people’s abilities, needs and preferences and reflected their physical, emotional and social needs. People were aware of the providers complaints procedure.

Although management systems were in place to monitor the quality of the care provided and to promote people’s safety and welfare, they had not identified the concerns we raised.

Rating at last inspection: Good. (report published 18 March 2016).

The overall rating for this service after this inspection is requires improvement.

More information is in the full report below.

Why we inspected: This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Action we told provider to take: We identified two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 around safe care and treatment and good governance.

Follow up: We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what action they will take to improve the quality and safety of care provided to people. We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.