Brooke House

Updated 19 May 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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

Brooke House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Brooke House is a care home with nursing care. 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 inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority, other professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 14 relatives and spent time with people during a teatime meal. We received feedback from a range of care professionals, including dementia support and commissioning teams. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with a variety of staff including care staff, nurses, the registered manager, operations manager, maintenance and catering staff. We spoke with the nominated individual who is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also contacted a further eight staff for their views.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence we found.

Updated 19 May 2022

About the service

Brooke House is a residential care home providing nursing and personal care to up to 50 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom are living with dementia-related conditions. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people using the service.

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

Brooke House continued to be outstanding in the way it was managed by the provider. Relatives said the management and staff had gone “above and beyond during the pandemic” and described the service as “superb” and “superior”.

The service continued to work in exceptionally collaboratively ways with other care services for the benefit of people and the wider community. Care professionals commended the dedicated leadership and knowledge of both management and staff to provide a “higher standard of care”.

The provider promoted a strong ethos of personalised care and an exceptionally positive culture. The management team was extremely committed and offered a high level of support to staff and relatives. Staff fully valued the people they supported and put them at the very centre of the service. The management team used a range of robust audits to monitor and review the quality of the service and continuously improve the outcomes for people.

The service was safe. Staff knew how to report any concerns and said these would be acted upon. Medicines were managed in a safe way. Safe infection control and prevention practices were followed. People and staff had regular testing for COVID-19. Staff received training in the appropriate use of PPE.

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 outstanding (published 4 February 2020).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by an outbreak of COVID-19 at the 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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

We had initial concerns about the exposure of people to risks from catering equipment. As a result, we widened the scope of the inspection to become a focused inspection which included the key questions of Safe and Well-led only. The provider took immediate action to mitigate the risk.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained the same based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Follow up

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