April 3rd saw Nottinghamshire County Council visit Branthwaite Care home for their annual Quality Audit. The council assess a range of factors including the choice of meals, cleanliness and the number of activities on offer. This is used to give each home a quality rating, with band one being the lowest quality and band five the highest.
Branthwaite are proud to remain in band 5!
Outcome Focused, Person Centred Care
Rating: Excellent
“During our visit we looked at the Care Plans of three people living at Branthwaite and found these focused on individual strengths and personal preferences and were reflective of initial assessment of need. There is evidence that care and support plans have been developed with the person and/or family members. This was further evidenced when we spoke to family members who said they had been involved in the care planning process and felt they were able to have an active input in and around care planning of their family member. Life history information has been gathered in enough level to ensure staff have an awareness of family, past experiences, choices, preferences, and interests"
Safe and Homely Environment
Rating: Excellent
“We noticed individual spaces were personalised and decorated to a good standard. Each bedroom within the service has an ensuite shower as well as additional bathroom should the resident prefer a bath. Communal areas were well laid out and were clean/pleasant/welcoming and maintained regularly. We reviewed maintenance records and logs and could see adequate checks of equipment were carried out by internal and external staff. We saw that any maintenance issues Identified we dealt with in a timely manner. There is a clear and robust system for managing and monitoring health and safety within the service. Staff are well informed and educated about general health and safety, fire and infection control policies and procedures within the home as evidenced by training records.”
Services are Managed Effectively
Rating: Excellent
“The staff we spoke to said they felt they were supported by the manager and felt confident with her judgement. One staff member said they “love working here”. We could see through our observations the manager was able to lead the team effectively. The service has an employee of the month and offers a night on us as a reward to employees. The manager receives regular support from regional teams who were present during our visit.”
Keeping People Safe
Rating: Excellent
“We looked at the safeguarding records maintained by the management. We found that the manager kept a clear record of safeguarding referrals, themes and recommendations using a tracker. The manager explained that daily safety huddles took place to ensure the safety of people at the service, visitors and staff. The manager undertakes monthly safeguarding audits. We spoke to people at the service and their families who were able to tell us they knew how to raise any concerns if they needed to. One family member said they had never had to raise an issue in the three years their family member had lived in the service but knew how to do so.”
Residents are Supported by Competent Staff
Rating: Excellent
“We reviewed some staff files within the service. We found that the management had undertaken a robust recruitment process of staff. We found that pre-employment checks had been undertaken such as right to work, identity checks, certification of learning and where appropriate, risk assessments. During our visit we reviewed the training matrix and found that the mandatory training at the service was at 100%. There were also a variety of additional training courses available to staff which included autism, disability awareness, epilepsy and oral care. We observed interactions between staff and residents, we could see that the staff appeared to be confident, friendly and respectful. There was a calm and friendly atmosphere, we observed positive relationships between staff and people at the home. This was also evidenced when a person’s family member said “the staff are lovely” and “the staff have a good attitude."
Enhancing the Delivery of Effective Care & Support
Rating: Excellent
“Technology is widely used by staff daily, for example all support plans recorded electronically, handheld devices are used to record daily care records. Staff have received training on how to use the technology in place. The service is piloting a new app called Relish. This app allows families to download it to their phone and the service uploads pictures of what activities the resident has participated in and information around how they enjoyed this activity. We spoke to one family who was using the app and they felt it gave them peace of mind and they could see their mum enjoying her time at the service. There were other staff deployed around the service to allow care staff not to have to undertake additional duties alongside providing care and support. These staff had training associated with their job role and had a good level of knowledge to evidence this. This included cleaners, kitchen and maintenance staff.”
