This inspection took place on 12 March 2018 and was unannounced.
Branston Court Care Home is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
Branston Court Care Home is registered to accommodate 45 people. At the time of our inspection 28 people were using the service. The service accommodates people in one building and support is provided over two floors, both have separate adapted facilities with a lounge area and dining area on each floor and a smaller lounge also available on the ground floor. A garden and enclosed patio were also available that people could access.
Since the 31 January 2018 the provider of this home has changed from Bupa Care Homes (CFC homes) Limited to HC-One Oval Limited.
The service did not have a registered manager in post. 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. A manager was in post and confirmed they had commenced the process to register with us.
Our last comprehensive inspection was undertaken in February 2017 and the service was rated as good. Following concerns identified regarding the safety of people using the service, the local authority commenced a large scale enquiry (LSE) in June 2017. We undertook a focused inspection on 24 July 2017 and the service was rated as requires improvement. This was because we found improvements were needed regarding the management of people’s medicines. We also found people’s welfare had been placed at risk and improvements were ongoing to address this. Improvements were also needed to ensure people’s therapeutic needs were met and that quality assurance checks were effective in identifying where improvements were needed. We asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key questions is the service safe, responsive and well led to at least good.
At this comprehensive inspection we found that improvements had been made since our last inspection. Although we did not identify any breaches of regulations at this inspection; some further improvements were needed to ensure good outcomes for people were maintained. This is the second consecutive time the service has been rated overall as 'Requires Improvement'. Providers should be aiming to achieve and sustain a rating of 'Good' or 'Outstanding'. Good care is the minimum that people receiving services should expect and deserve to receive.
Improvements had been made to the management of medicines and people had received their medicines as prescribed. However improvements in communication were needed to ensure people’s medicines were readily available when needed and to ensure that staff were available to provide timely support to people.
Improvements had been made to provide activities to support people’s social integration and further improvements were being made to ensure people received information in an accessible format.
People’s safety was enhanced as risks to people were managed and recruitment practices checked staff’s suitability to work with people. People were protected by staff that understood their responsibilities to report any concerns.
Assistive technology was in place to support people to keep safe and the premises and equipment were maintained to promote people’s safety. Systems were in place to ensure the prevention and control of infection was minimised.
People and their relatives contributed to the assessment and development of their care plans and relatives felt able to report any concerns they had. People were supported by trained staff and they encouraged people make their own decisions.
People received meals met their requirements and preferences and they were supported to maintain their health care needs.
People were treated with kindness and were supported to make choices and maintain their dignity and be as independent as possible. People’s family and visitors were welcomed by the staff team to support people to maintain relationships that were important to them.
Systems were in the process of being implemented to monitor the quality and safety of the service. We saw that some areas for improvement were needed and these were being addressed by the provider.
People and their representatives were consulted and involved in the running of the service. The provider understood their responsibilities and regulatory requirements and had resources available to them; including partnership working with other agencies that ensured people’s needs were met.