Bramblings Residential Home

Updated 5 July 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Bramblings Residential Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Bramblings Residential Home is a care home without nursing care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. 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 what improvement they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who use the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from three more relatives. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, care workers, kitchen staff and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records, including six peoples’ care records and multiple medicine administration records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service including audits, monitoring and training were reviewed.

Updated 5 July 2022

About the service

Bramblings Residential Home is a care home accommodating up to 42 people in one building. The service had an old wing and a new wing and was arranged across two floors with lift access. At the time of our inspection there were 29 people living in the service. People had a variety of care needs including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and people living with dementia. Very few people were able to walk around the service independently.

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

People told us they felt safe and were happy living in Bramblings. One person said, “I am very well looked after. I choose to stay in my room.” Relatives agreed people were safe and happy. One relative said, “We are very happy with it. Kindness and care are most important to us and that is what they get.” Another relative said of the management team, “They have done a fantastic job of bringing this care home to life, and making it a secure, safe place for the people.”

People received safe care and treatment from staff who knew them well. Medicines were managed safely, and lessons were learned when things went wrong. Enough staff were deployed to meet peoples’ needs.

People enjoyed the food and their dietary needs and preferences were met, for example gluten free. People had choices and could ask if they wanted something not on the menu. Cold and hot drinks were offered to people throughout the day.

Quality assurance processes were in place to monitor the service and regular audits were undertaken. Staff had received appropriate training. Staff told us they found the registered manager approachable and supportive.

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 (published 22 July 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the 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. However, there were areas in need of improvement identified at this inspection.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing levels, training and incident reporting. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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 the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We found no evidence during this inspection people were at risk of harm from the concerns raised. Please see the safe and effective sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bramblings Residential Home 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.