The Long Brook Residential Home

Updated 18 October 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.

Inspection team

The inspection team was made up of one inspector and an 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

The Long Brook 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. 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 Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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

Before the inspection we reviewed information, we held about the service including notifications we had received. We used the information sent to 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.

During the inspection

We spent time with and spoke with ten people living at the service, three relatives, eight staff members and the registered manager. To help us assess and understand how people's care needs were being met we reviewed four people's care records. We also reviewed a number of records relating to the running of the service. These included staff recruitment and training records, medicine records and records associated with the provider's quality assurance systems.

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 18 October 2022

About the service

The Long Brook Residential Home is a care home that provides care and accommodation for up to 24 older people. At the time of the inspection, 24 people lived at the home.

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

Without exception, people told us they were happy living at The Long Brook Residential Home, and were well cared for by kind, caring and compassionate staff. Relatives we spoke with were very complimentary about the standard of care and told us they would recommend the service to others.

We found the service was not always operating in accordance with the regulations and best practice guidance. Systems were either not in place or undertaken robustly to identify and monitor the quality of the service and drive improvements. This meant systems operated by the provider had failed to identify concerns and shortfalls we found during this inspection and could not be relied upon as a source to measure quality and risk.

People were not always protected from the risk of avoidable harm. We found where some risks had been identified, enough action had not always been taken to mitigate those risks and keep people safe.

People’s medicines were not always managed or stored safely.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff were not supporting people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

People were not always protected by safe recruitment procedures.

People were protected from the risk of abuse and received care and support that was responsive to their needs because staff had a good knowledge of the people who lived at the service.

All of the people we spoke with had confidence in the provider and staff team and told us the service was well managed.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 9th February 2021 and this is the first rating inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection for a newly registered service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, recruitment, MCA, staffing and governance at this inspection. We have also made recommendations in relation to the wearing of PPE (personal protective equipment) and management of complaints.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.