We carried out a review of the data available to us about Brook House Residential Care Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Brook House Residential Care Home, you can give feedback on this service.
Brook House provides accommodation and personal care for up to four adults who have mental health needs, learning disabilities or an acquired brain injury.
At the last inspection the service was rated as Good. At this inspection, we found the service remained Good.
Why the service is rated Good:
The service continued to provider a good level of care and support to people living there. Arrangements were in place to protect people who used the service from the risks of abuse and avoidable harm. There were enough staff and they were clear about their responsibilities to report abuse and where to report outside of the organisation. Staff had received safeguarding training.
People were cared for in a caring and respectful way. People were supported to maintain their health and the service ensured relevant health professionals were involved to ensure people remained well both physically and emotionally. People were provided with person-centred care which encouraged choice and independence. Staff understood people’s individual preferences.
People had their nutritional needs met. People who were at risk of losing weight had measures in place to manage this risk.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Medicines were stored and administered safely.
People were encouraged to take part in the things they enjoyed doing and we saw the service ensuring these happened. We saw people were supported to engage in voluntary employment if they wanted.
People knew how to make a complaint but told us they hadn’t needed to.
The service remained well managed. The home was run by a registered manager and there was a positive, open culture that valued people, relatives and staff. The provider had effective systems in place to ensure people experienced good quality care. The staff worked well with professionals to ensure a holistic approach to meeting people’s needs.
Further information is in the detailed findings below
We visited Brook House on 20 August 2015. It was an announced inspection as it is a small service and we wanted to ensure people were at home. The service was last inspected in September 2013.
The service provides accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care and support for up to four adults who have mental health needs, acquired brain injury or learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection there were four people using the service. Brook House is located in Didcot on a residential estate close to facilities.
There was a registered manager at the service. 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.
Arrangements were in place to protect people who use the service from the risks of abuse and avoidable harm. There were enough staff and they were clear about their responsibilities to report abuse and where to report outside of the organisation. Staff had received safeguarding training.
People were cared for in a caring and respectful way. People were supported to maintain their health and the service ensured relevant health professionals were involved to ensure people remained well both physically and emotionally. People were provided with person-centred care which encouraged choice and independence. Staff understood people’s individual preferences.
People had their nutritional needs met. People who were at risk of losing weight had measures in place to reduce this.
Medicines were stored and administered safely; however, homely remedies needed a system in place to ensure safe management. This was put in place on the day of inspection.
People were encouraged to take part in the things they enjoyed doing and we saw the service ensuring these happened.
The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS); these provide legal safeguards for people who may be unable to make their own decisions or who may be deprived of their liberty for their own safety.
The service was well led and feedback confirmed this.
At the time of our visit, four people lived at Brook House. We spoke with two people and one person's relative.
The provider conducted mental capacity assessments to protect people from receiving inappropriate care and treatment. The provider also sought professional advice and involved people's representatives.
People we spoke with told us they were happy at the home and they had no complaints regarding their care. One person told us, 'It's nice here. I like it and I get on with the other people who live here'.
We saw that the risks to safety had been identified and managed. We noted that two people were at risk of accessing the kitchen at night without support. We noted that the provider took appropriate action.
Care workers told us they felt supported. One care worker told us, 'It's excellent. I couldn't fault the management. They are really good bosses, any problems, work or personal they're there for you'.
People told us that their views were listened to and respected. One person told us, 'They ask for my views, they did so yesterday'. A relative told us, 'They really listen to me. They eagerly take advice, and wanted my input'.
People told us that staff were supportive and encouraged them to make decisions for themselves. One person told us they were working with staff to be sufficiently independent to live in the local community.
We observed people being treated in a courteous and dignified manner. People told us their privacy was always respected. Regular meetings are held to discuss informally issues.That may affect the people. This included the recruitment of new members of staff.
People that we spoke with were aware of their care plans and risk assessments and confirmed they were involved in planning of their care, with family members, if appropriate. Health and social care professionals had been involved in reviewing care plans and risk reduction measures.
Regular audits had been undertaken by the nominated individual and the service is to recruit an independent person to carry out this task.
We spent time observing people going about their day and we saw that people were relaxed with the staff that supported them. People were engaged in activities in the house, such as craft making and were supported to go out to social activities. We saw that people were treated with respect by the staff supporting them. We observed staff knock on the bedroom doors and wait for the people to answer.
One person told us that they accessed the community independently and that staff provided support when it was asked for. They said that they were encouraged to do things for themselves including maintaining their own bedroom, cooking and laundry. They said that they were involved in their care planning with their key worker.
One person who used the service told us that they were given information about their care and, they had signed to agree to their care plan. They told us that they had been given a guide to the service when they first moved in. This helped them to understand the service they should expect to receive and how to make a complaint if they needed to.
We were told that people who used the service and those acting on behalf of people that use the service were provided with information about the service and how to raise concerns if needed when they first moved into the service.
We spoke to members of the local authority commissioning team. They told us that they were not aware of any concerns regarding the care and support provided to people who live in the home. No concerns had been raised with them for the last three years. We also spoke to a psychiatrist and two community psychiatric nurses. They were very complementary about the care and support provided in the home and told us that it was one of the better homes they had worked with.