Brierton Lodge Care Home

Brierton Lodge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 58 older people some of whom were living with dementia. The care home accommodates people over two floors in one adapted building. At the time of this inspection there were 57 people living at the service.

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

Risks to people’s safety had been assessed and care plans were in place to guide staff regarding the support people needed. However, information in care plans was hard to navigate. We have made a recommendation about this.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the care and support they received. Comments included, “The staff are second to none. They are amazing. What I have found is how knowledgeable and professional they are with the residents on the dementia unit, and they are all very patient.”

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.

Safe recruitment processes were followed to ensure people were supported by staff with the appropriate experience and were of good character. Staff said they felt supported. Comments included, “Management are fantastic. I’ve seen a lot of changes. [registered manager] is approachable and supportive and wants to improve the home. It’s very much the resident’s home.”

Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify safeguarding concerns and acted on these to keep people safe. There were safe systems in place and people received their medicines when required.

Infection and prevention control processes were in place to support the prevention and spread of infection.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. The registered manager was clear about their role and responsibilities and a home improvement plan was in place to support the development of the service. The service worked in partnership with others including health professionals and the local community.

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 31 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We 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.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation regarding reviewing care plans.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. Please see the Safe and Well-led section of this report.

Follow up

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

Brierton Lodge Care Home provides care and accommodation for up to 58 people with nursing needs, some of whom have a dementia related condition. On the day of our inspection there were 57 people using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Brierton Lodge had not previously been inspected by CQC under its current registration.

The home was clean, spacious and suitable for the people who used the service, and appropriate health and safety checks had been carried out.

Risk assessments were in place for people who used the service and described potential risks and the safeguards in place to mitigate these risks. Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and investigated.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities with regard to safeguarding and staff had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults.

Medicines were stored safely and securely, and procedures were in place to ensure people received medicines as prescribed.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to meet the needs of people who used the service. The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant vetting checks when they employed staff.

Staff were suitably trained and training was arranged for any due or overdue refresher training. Staff received regular supervisions and appraisals.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People were protected from the risk of poor nutrition and staff were aware of people’s nutritional needs. Care records contained evidence of people being supported during visits to and from external health care specialists.

People who used the service and family members were complimentary about the standard of care at Brierton Lodge Care Home. Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people’s independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible.

Care plans were in place that recorded people’s plans and wishes for their end of life care.

Care records showed that people’s needs were assessed before they started using the service and care plans were written in a person-centred way. Person-centred is about ensuring the person is at the centre of any care or support plans and their individual wishes, needs and choices are taken into account.

Activities were arranged for people who used the service based on their likes and interests and to help meet their social needs. The service had good links with the local community.

People who used the service and family members were aware of how to make a complaint and complaints had been appropriately dealt with.

The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place. Staff said they felt supported by the manager and were comfortable raising any concerns. People who used the service, family members and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service via meetings and surveys.