Bridge House Care Centre

Updated 6 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 Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Bridge House Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 looked at the information we held about the service. This included previous inspection reports and notifications providers are required to send us about significant events that take place within their services. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service, three care workers, the registered manager and administrator and the chef. We carried out observations of staff supporting people. We also looked at three people’s care plans, two staff files and other records relevant to the management of the service such as audits.

After the inspection

After the inspection, we looked at additional evidence we had asked the provider to send us. We also spoke with the registered manager and operations manager for further clarification.

Updated 6 October 2022

About the service

Bridge House Care Centre is a residential care home that provides personal and nursing care for up to 35 people, mainly older people, some of whom were living with dementia or had other physical or mental health conditions. The service was supporting 35 people at the time of our inspection.

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

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. People’s needs were assessed and monitored and any professional advice was incorporated into care plans with clear guidance for staff to follow. People’s health care needs were met and people were supported to attend appointments with professionals. People received a choice of food and drink and their risk of malnutrition and dehydration was reduced by staff. The premises were adapted for people with dementia to help them orientate around the home.

The registered manager was new in post and had made improvements to the service such as to checks and audits of the quality of care. A range of audits were in place covering all aspects of the service including staff support, medicines management and health and safety. The registered manager communicated well with people, relatives and staff and constantly gathered feedback as part of monitoring and improving the service. The provider worked closely with other health and social care professionals.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (report published 5 October 2019). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and to follow up on the previous breach of the regulation relating to consent. We inspected looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.