Brookdale Nursing Home

Updated 4 February 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The team consisted of one inspector and one Expert by Experience. 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

Brookdale Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 13 members of staff including the operations manager, registered manager, deputy manager, a nurse, two carers and one agency carer, the cook, the activities co-ordinator, two domestic staff and two maintenance persons. We also spoke with one visiting professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, maintenance checks were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 4 February 2020

About the service

Brookdale Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to people aged 65 and over who may have a physical disability and/or who may be living with dementia. The service can support up to 40 people, at the time of the inspection 32 people were living in the home.

Brookdale Nursing Home accommodates 40 people in one adapted building which is over two floors.

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

People told us they felt safe and supported by the staff who worked in the home. Staff recognised different types of abuse and how to report it. The registered manager understood their safeguarding responsibilities and how to protect people from abuse. Potential risks to people's health and wellbeing had been identified and managed. People, and where appropriate, their relatives, had been involved with decisions in how to reduce risk associated with people’s care. There were sufficient staff on duty to keep people safe and meet their needs. People's medicines were managed and stored in a safe way. Safe practice was carried out to reduce the risk of infection.

People's care needs had been assessed and reviews took place with the person and where appropriate their

relative. Staff had the training and support to be able to care for people in line with best practice. People were supported to have a healthy balanced diet and were given food they enjoyed. Staff worked with external healthcare professionals and followed their guidance and advice about how to support people following best practice. 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 did support this practice.

People were supported by staff who treated them well. Staff treated people as individuals and respected the choices they made. Staff treated people with respect and maintained their dignity.

People's care was delivered in a timely way, with any changes in care being communicated clearly to the

staff team. People were supported and encouraged to maintain their hobbies and interests. People had access to information about how to raise a complaint. The provider responded to complaints in line with their policy and procedure. People's end of life care needs were met in line with their preferences and done so by staff in a respectful and dignified way.

All people, relatives and staff felt the registered manager had made positive improvements to the home and the way the service was run. The registered manager was visible within the home and listened to people and staff's views about the way the service was run. The provider had put checks into place to monitor the quality of the service provision.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 21 January 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.