Brookside Residential Care Home

Updated 15 April 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 the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 19 March 2021 and was announced.

Updated 15 April 2021

The inspection took place on 14 August and was unannounced.

Brookside Care Home is a residential ‘care home’ which provides accommodation and personal care for up to 25 older people, including people living with dementia. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. At the time of the inspection there were 23people living at the home.

Rooms were located over two floors and there was an accessible lift available to use. There was a lounge and two dining rooms on the ground floor and all rooms had wheelchair access. All rooms were single occupancy and 22 room had en-suite facilities. There was also adapted toilet and bathroom facilities on both the ground and first floor.

At the last inspection, which took place in January 2016 the service was rated ‘Good’.

At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’ and continued to meet all of the essential standards that we assessed.

There was a registered manager at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. .

We reviewed quality assurance tools which were in place to monitor and assess the quality and safety of the home. There was a variety of different audits and checks conducted which meant that people remained safe. Although monthly medication audits were being routinely completed, we did identify a number of weekly medication audits that had not been completed and an infection control audit which was slightly of date.

We recommend that the registered provider review quality assurance systems currently in place.

We reviewed care plans and risk assessments and found that they contained up to date and relevant information in relation to the support needs of people who were living at the home.

Medication systems and processes were safely in place and people were only administered their medication by staff who were suitably training and competent to do so.

Recruitment was safely managed. Suitable checks were carried out on all staff before they began working at Brookside care home.

Infection prevention control procedures were in place. The home was clean, hygienic and odour free. There was an infection control policy in place and staff understood the importance of complying with this policy to keep people safe and free from avoidable harm.

Safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures were in place. Staff explained their understanding of what ‘safeguarding’ and 'whistleblowing' meant and the actions they would take to safeguard people in their care.

The home operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We reviewed information in relation to capacity assessments and processes which needed to be in place to make decisions in a person’s best interest.

Staff told us they felt supported in their roles and received training, learning and development opportunities. Staff also received regular supervision and appraisals.

People’s nutrition and hydration support needs were checked during the inspection. People received an effective level of support from the staff team and external healthcare professionals who were involved in people’s care.

We received positive feedback from people and relatives about ‘care’ that was delivered. People received kind, warm and compassionate care by staff who were familiar with their needs and were respectful of their wishes and preferences.

There was an activities co-ordinator in post who arranged a variety of different activities for people to participate in. An activities time-table was visible on the notice board in the reception area and we received positive feedback about the range of different internal and external activities which people were encouraged to participate in.

The registered provider had a formal complaints policy in place and people were aware of the complaints procedure. Any complaints which were received, were responded to in accordance with organisational procedures.

The was a range of different policies in place. We identified that some of the policies needed to be updated with the relevant Health and Social Care Act information. Staff were familiar with a range of different policies which were in place and understood the importance of complying with these.