Bramble Cottage Retirement Home

Updated 24 January 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 inspection team consisted 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.

Bramble Cottage 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.

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 the inspection:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We observed how staff interacted with people. We spoke with eight people to gather their views. We looked at records, which included seven people's care and medicines records. We checked recruitment records for seven staff. We looked at a range of records about how the service was managed. We also spoke with the provider, the registered manager, the deputy manager, the chef and three care staff.

Updated 24 January 2020

About the service

Bramble Cottage is a residential care home providing personal care to 19 older people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 28 people.

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

People living at Bramble Cottage told us they received safe care from skilled and knowledgeable staff. Staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. The provider had safe recruitment and selection processes in place. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs and staff recruitment was on-going. Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed.

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. Risks associated with to people's safety, well-being and care were managed through a risk management process.

People told us staff were caring. This ethos consistently enabled people to receive good care from staff who knew them well. Staff promoted independence and we saw examples of such practices. People were supported to maintain good health and to meet their nutritional needs.

People had access to a range of activities and where appropriate were supported to avoid social isolation. The registered manager successfully maintained an open and transparent culture which contributed to staff work satisfaction and in turn the staff delivering good care for people. Without exception staff and people told us the service was well managed.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 11 April 2017).

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 reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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