Brockenhurst

Updated 26 May 2021

The inspection:

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 team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type:

Brockenhurst is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was to determine the COVID-19 status of the service and to ensure we followed appropriate infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures.

What we did:

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection:

We observed the support that people received, spoke with people and staff and gathered information relating to the management of the service. We used the short observational framework for inspection (SOFI), which is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three staff recruitment files, training records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures and quality assurance processes developed and implemented by the provider. We reviewed three people’s care records.

We spoke with two people living at the service on the day of the inspection, and two relatives by telephone. We also spoke with eight members of staff, including the provider, an office manager, the deputy manager, an activities co-ordinator, as well as care and ancillary staff.

Updated 26 May 2021

About the service:

Brockenhurst is a care home registered to provide accommodation for up to 38 people with various health conditions, including dementia and sensory impairment. There were 35 people living at the service on the day of our inspection. Brockenhurst is a converted care home located in Littlehampton, West Sussex.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were happy with the care they received, felt relaxed with staff and told us they were treated with kindness. They said they felt safe, were well supported and there were sufficient staff to care for them.

Our own observations supported this, and we saw friendly relationships had developed between people and staff. A relative told us, “Many of the staff have worked there a long time, they know [my relative] very well. I couldn’t say a bad word about them.”

People told us their choices and needs were met. They enjoyed the food, drink and activities that took place daily. People thought the service was well managed and they enjoyed living there. A relative told us, “I think the home is very well managed. [My relative] has been nothing but happy there.”

Staff had received training considered essential by the provider. It was clear from observing the care delivered and the feedback people and staff gave us, that they knew the best way to care for people in line with their needs and preferences. A member of staff told us, “We’re always having training, it’s always available.”

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.

The provider had systems of quality assurance to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. These systems also supported people to stay safe by assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring that people were cared for in a person-centred way and that the provider learned from any mistakes. Our own observations and the feedback we received supported this. People received high quality care that met their needs and improved their wellbeing from dedicated and enthusiastic staff. A member of staff said, “It’s like we’re one big family, I enjoy coming to work.”

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

Rating at last inspection: Requires Improvement (report published 30 September 2019).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this home and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Good. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.