25 April 2022
During a routine inspection
About the service
Brighton and Hove City Council – Ireland Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 34 people. The service provides short term and respite support, transitional care and longer term care for people who experience dementia and mental health needs. This includes to prevent hospital admission and to support people after hospital discharge before returning home. At the time of our inspection there were 19 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We found some governance systems required a more robust approach to ensure training and policies were up to date.
People experienced safe care from kind and respectful staff who understood their needs and preferences. Staff felt valued in their role and valued the people they supported.
Assessments and care plans were created with people and their relatives to ensure support was individualised. People’s risks and needs were reviewed with them to promote improvements and monitor any concerns.
Staff showed genuine care and kindness to people. Relatives and professionals gave consistent feedback that the experience of care was positive and well regarded.
People’s care was coordinated with their relatives and other professionals to ensure their move in and out of the service was as smooth as possible.
There was a positive culture of respect, led by the registered manager, and staff worked together as a team.
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.
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 (24 April 2020).
At the last inspection we recognised the provider had failed to provide CQC with statutory notifications. This was a breach of regulations and we issued fixed penalty notice. The provider accepted a fixed penalty and paid this in full. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
At the last inspection we also found improvements were required for how people’s food and fluid charts were managed. At this inspection we found improvements had been made in this area.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements to governance systems. Please see the well led section of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Brighton and Hove City Council – Ireland Lodge 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.