Archived: Broomfield Grange

Updated 30 March 2015

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 27 November 2014 and was unannounced.

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and a specialist advisor who was a general nurse. In preparation for this inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included, previous inspection reports and information from people who had shared their experiences with us. We also reviewed notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, the area manager, the head of care and seven other staff. We spoke with five visitors and ten people using the service. We looked at five care plans and other records relating to the management and running of the service, such as audits to show if the service was managed safely and effectively. We looked at staffing rotas too see if there were enough staff to deliver the care. We carried out observations on each of the units throughout the morning and over lunch to see how staff provided care and support to people.

As some of the people who live in the service live with dementia we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. SOFI observations were carried out on each of the units.

Updated 30 March 2015

We carried out an unannounced inspection on 27 November 2014.  The home was last inspected on the 27 February 2014 and was found to be compliant with all outcomes inspected. However there was a suspension in place at the time by the Local Authority, which meant they were not placing people at the service who they funded. This suspension was still in place at the time of our inspection in November.

The home can accommodate up to 140 people but has never been fully occupied and one unit remains unused. At the time of our inspection there were 55 people using the service and they were supported in three different units. The home is registered to provide accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care, or rehabilitation.

The home has a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a 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.

On the day of our inspection there were enough staff and staff recruitment and retention had improved in recent months which meant less agency staff usage. However we had concerns that staffing levels were not always maintained or sufficient to the needs of people using the service. We also were not assured that all staff had the necessary skills or were adequately supported in their role.  

People did not always receive their medicines safely and these had not been identified by the homes audits which meant they were not as effective as they could be.

Staff were aware of their responsibility to protect people in their care and knew what actions to take if they had concerns about a person’s care and welfare. Risks to people had been identified and steps taken to minimise the risk whenever possible.

People’s health care needs were met and records showed us that people’s health care needs were kept under review. Any changes to people’s health were acted upon.

Staff ensured people received adequate supervision for their safety and enough to eat and drink.  

Staff were aware of how to meet people’s needs and were sufficiently competent. Staff were supported through regular training which helped them meet people’s individual needs.

Staff worked within the law to support people who were not able to make their own decisions about their care and welfare.

Staff were caring and upheld people’s dignity and independence and respected people’s individuality.

 Staff were familiar with people’s needs but we could not see how  staff responded to people’s changing needs and people’s records did not always reflect a change in need.

There were systems in place to listen and respond to people’s concerns and their family members so the service could make improvements to the service as required.

Staff did not all feel well supported and were not clear about the vision and values of the service.

There were systems in place to assess and review the quality of the service provided but not everyone felt this was effective or that they had a say on how the service was delivered.