Brook Farm

Updated 12 December 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Brook Farm is a domiciliary care agency. It provides support and personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. There was registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered 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.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection took place on 16 November 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the 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 also reviewed other information we held about the service as well as previous inspection reports and notifications we had received from the service. Notifications are information about important events that the service is legally required to submit to CQC.

During the inspection we visited the location’s office and spent time talking with the registered manager and the nominated individual (The nominated individual is employed as a director, manager or secretary of the organisation with responsibility for supervising the management of the regulated activity). Whilst the service provided support to several people, they only provided the regulated activity of personal care to one person as defined by CQC registration at the time of the inspection. We therefore inspected the systems and policies of the service to ensure that the service would be effective and equipped to support people with personal care as the service expanded.

We spoke with three staff members and looked at staff files relating to their training and personal development as well as the provider’s recruitment procedures. We reviewed a range of records including accident and incident reports and other records relating to the monitoring and management of the service. After the inspection we spoke to one person by telephone and received feedback about the service they received.

Updated 12 December 2018

What life is like for people using this service:

• People received a service which was primarily focused on promoting their mental health and well-being and to live independently in the community.

• People’s needs had been assessed and their support requirements had been comprehensively identified and recorded to provide staff with the guidance they needed to support people.

• Feedback from people about the quality of care and support they received was positive.

• One person complimented the caring nature of staff and felt that they were treated with dignity and respect.

• People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives.

• Effective systems were in place to manage people’s medicines or support and encourage people when self-medicating.

• Staff and the local multidisciplinary team and GP’s worked together to enable people to progress in their well-being, daily living skills and confidence.

• There were sufficient numbers of staff available to ensure people’s safety and well-being.

• New staff were suitably vetted before they supported people.

• Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and had been trained to carry out their role.

• Staff understood their responsibility to report concerns, accidents and poor practices.

• Systems were in place to identify shortfalls in the service and drive improvement.

• People views were valued and acted if any concerns had been identified.

• The registered manager understood their regulatory duties to ensure people received a safe and effective service.

The service met the characteristics of Good in all areas.

More information is in Detailed Findings below.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of this service since their registration in August 2017.

About the service: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides support and personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of our inspection the service supported five people in the community but only supported one person with their personal care.

Why we inspected: This was the first inspection of this service in line with our inspection scheduling of newly registered services and known intelligence about the service.

Follow up: The rating of this inspection and the information and intelligence that we receive about the service will determine the timeframe of our next inspection.