Broadacres Care Home

Updated 19 March 2021

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.

As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 10 March 2021 and was announced.

Updated 19 March 2021

About the service

Broadacres is a care home that offers care and support for up to 28 older people. There were 25 people using the service at the time of our visit.

People’s experience of using this service

• Care and support was exceptionally personalised and people were involved in the care planning process. The service was responsive and flexible so people’s support could be accommodated to meet their preferences and needs. People were occupied and able to follow their interests and hobbies and do they things they liked to do. Staff supported people to maintain relationships with their friends and family. Staff understood people’s individual communication needs. Technology was used to support communication and to help people stay safe.

• The service actively sought and accommodated new ideas to enhance people’s experience and quality of life. The service had established a relationship with a local primary school and supported people to build relationships with reception age children. Evidence showed that people who used the service and the attending children had benefited from this arrangement.

• People were happy living at Broadacres. Everybody said they felt safe. Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. They knew how and when to report concerns. Risk was assessed and managed while also supporting people’s freedom and autonomy. When things went wrong action was taken to reduce further risk and the incident was used as an opportunity to learn and improve.

• There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff were recruited in a safe way so that so far as possible only staff with the right skills and characteristics were employed. People received their medicines at the right time and in the right way.

• The environment was very clean and tidy. Staff knew about infection prevention and control and had all the personal protective equipment they required.

• Staff had the training and support they required to meet people’s needs. They were supported to keep up to date so that care and support was delivered in line with evidence based practice and current legislation.

• People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and to have a balanced diet. People were very complimentary about the meals provided. Staff knew how to recognise people’s changing needs and supported people to access the healthcare services they required as soon as this was required. The premises were adapted to meet people’s needs and promote their independence. Consent to care and treatment was always sought in line with legislation.

• People praised the staff and told us the care they received was always kind and compassionate. Staff knew and understood people’s needs and always involved people in decision making about their care and support. People had their privacy and dignity respected and their independence promoted.

• People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. This meant that the person’s liberty was only deprived following authorisation and a best interest decision.

• People were supported to raise concerns and complaints should they need to and staff used this as an opportunity to learn and improve.

• People and their relatives were supported when people were at the end of their lives. Staff were proud and passionate when speaking about how they had supported people. People and staff were encouraged to remember people who had died at the service and this supported people, relatives and staff through the bereavement process.

• There was a clear vision shared by staff and managers which was based on a positive, open and inclusive person-centred culture. There was strong leadership, a clear management structure and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. People and staff praised their managers and felt supported by them. Equality and inclusion was promoted and people and staff were engaged and involved in developing the service. The quality of the service was monitored and continually developed towards improvement.

The home continued to meet the characteristics of a rating of good overall, but we found the responsiveness of the service to be outstanding. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: The home was rated Good at the last inspection (report published August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating to check that this service remained good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.