Brook View

Brook View is a residential care home providing personal care and nursing care for up to 32 people with a variety of mental and physical health needs. There were 29 people living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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

People had personalised risk assessments which gave staff the information needed to safely manage the risks associated with their care. The environment was safe and well-maintained and regular safety checks were carried out on the environment, utilities and equipment.

There were enough staff at the home to meet people’s needs. Staff were visible throughout the home and were available to assist people when needed. People who required one-to-one support from staff were receiving this level of support. Call bells and other equipment to alert staff to people requiring assistance were accessible and working.

The home was clean and hygienic. Effective infection prevention and control measures were in place.

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 15 June 2021).

Why we inspected

This targeted inspection was prompted in part by a notification of a specific incident. Following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.

The information CQC received about the incident indicated concerns about environmental risk management and staffing. This inspection examined those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these areas of concern. Please see the safe section of this full report.

The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains requires improvement.

CQC have introduced targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check specific concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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.

Brook View is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 28 adults with complex nursing needs. The service can support up to 32 people.

Brook View supports people across four units, which each have their own communal living areas and single occupancy bedrooms with en-suite facilities. There is a shared secure garden, main kitchen and laundry.

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

People were not always being safely supported to take their medicines. People felt safe and well cared for by staff. Suitable processes and checks were in place to recruit staff. We have made a recommendation about reviewing staffing levels to ensure there are enough staff to meet people’s needs. There were systems in place to ensure equipment and premises were appropriate for use. The registered manager would investigate accidents and incidents to enable lessons to be learnt.

People’s needs were assessed and they were supported to access health care services as needed. Staff had received relevant training and support to perform their roles. People enjoyed mealtimes and dietary needs were being met for people with specific requirements. 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.

Staff were kind and caring and respected people’s privacy and choice.

People’s care and support plans were personalised to meet individual needs and positive risk taking and choice was supported. People felt able to raise concerns and felt confident that any issues would be addressed.

People spoke positively about the registered manager and staff felt well supported in their roles. There were systems of oversight and quality checks and work was ongoing to drive improvement and ensure lessons were learnt.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 09 August 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We undertook a targeted inspection to check on a specific concern we had about how medicines were being safely managed and personalised care was being provided. We inspected and found there was a concern with how medicines were being managed so we widened the scope of the inspection to become a comprehensive inspection which included all five key questions.

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.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe section of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified a breach of regulation in relation to how people were being supported to take their medicines safely.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.