Brooks Care and Nursing Services Ltd

Updated 7 October 2023

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

This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and an Expert by Experience who carried out telephone calls to people and their relatives. 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

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

The service 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 were 2 registered managers in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We needed to be sure the provider or registered managers would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 15 September 2023 and ended on 28 September 2023. We visited the location’s office on 20 September 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 5 members of staff; these included the senior office manager, the registered managers, quality assurance nurse, and a medication officer. We spoke with 6 people who used the service and 6 family members. We looked at 4 people's care plans and medication administration records, 3 staff records in relation to recruitment, training, supervision and staff competencies and a variety of records relating to the quality assurance and management of the service.

Following the inspection to the domiciliary care office, we continued to seek clarification from the senior manager to validate evidence found. We spoke to a further 4 members of staff either by telephone or email correspondence.

Updated 7 October 2023

About the service

Brooks Care and Nursing Services is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people who live in their own homes.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 64 people using the service of which 60 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

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

People’s risks had been identified, reviewed, and updated. People received safe care from staff who knew them well. There was a safeguarding policy and the registered managers and staff knew how to identify and report any concerns.

Staff had received an induction and training to enable them to meet people’s needs. We saw supervisions, spot checks, competency checks and meetings for staff were carried out and staff told us they felt supported by the registered managers to perform their role. People were supported with their medicines by trained members of staff where required.

Staff told us they had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and there were effective infection control measures in place. People confirmed appropriate PPE was worn by staff when being provided with care and support.

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.

We received positive feedback about the leadership and management of the service. Systems and processes were in place to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (21 March 2023).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider seeks advice and guidance from a reputable source about recording lessons learnt to ensure a formal process is in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service and ensure learning is shared with staff. At this inspection we found the provider had a more formal process in place recording lessons learnt, action taken and what changes had been made to improve the quality of service to people.

Why we inspected

At our last inspection of this service on 21 February 2023. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve in relation to medicines management and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements regarding the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 (good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Brooks Care and Nursing Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.