Brickbridge House

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 was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

Brickbridge House 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

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and commissioning teams. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met and spoke with four of the people living at the home. Some people were unable to tell us in detail about their experiences due to their communication needs, so we observed how staff interacted with them. We spoke with two staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager. We also spoke with a visiting healthcare professional. We looked at two people’s care records, medicines records, details of incidents involving positive behaviour support, health and safety and quality assurance records. We also looked at recruitment records for two staff members.

Updated 24 January 2020

About the service

Brickbridge House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to seven younger adults with learning disabilities and autism. The home accommodates six people in one house and one person in a separate building. Seven people were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People felt the service was safe and enjoying living at Brickbridge House. Staff demonstrated a good understanding about people’s safety and were aware of how to reduce the risk of harm. There were enough staff to support people both within and away from the home. Staff were safely recruited. Accidents and incidents were reviewed to ensure learning took place and future risk was minimised.

The service was well-led. People, staff and professionals spoke positively about the registered manager. People were given opportunity to feedback about the care they received and staff felt the management team were approachable. Quality monitoring systems included audits, observations of staff practice and checks on the environment. Action was taken to rectify any areas of concern.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 17 January 2018).

Why we inspected

To assure ourselves the service was meeting people’s needs, that staff had the necessary skills and experience and the management processes were effective we completed a focused inspection. We reviewed the key questions of Safe and Well Led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Brickbridge House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.