Last updated 8 March 2019
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

Over the two days, the inspection team consisted of the lead inspector, another inspector, a specialist advisor 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 Berkshire Care Home is a care home with nursing that provides a service for up to 58 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. The accommodation is arranged over two floors. Care Quality Commission (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 took place on 21 and 22 January 2019 and was unannounced.

What we did:

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 spoke to nine people who use the service and two relatives. We observed interactions between people and staff. We looked at six care plans, daily notes and other documentation relating to people who use the service. In addition, we looked at the records related to the running of the service. These included medicine management, health and safety records, quality assurance audits, staff and training records. We spoke with the registered manger, area manager, three registered nurses and 10 staff members. We requested information from eight external health and social care professionals and received two responses.