About the service

Broadacres is a care home that offers care and support for up to 28 older people. There were 25 people using the service at the time of our visit.

People’s experience of using this service

• Care and support was exceptionally personalised and people were involved in the care planning process. The service was responsive and flexible so people’s support could be accommodated to meet their preferences and needs. People were occupied and able to follow their interests and hobbies and do they things they liked to do. Staff supported people to maintain relationships with their friends and family. Staff understood people’s individual communication needs. Technology was used to support communication and to help people stay safe.

• The service actively sought and accommodated new ideas to enhance people’s experience and quality of life. The service had established a relationship with a local primary school and supported people to build relationships with reception age children. Evidence showed that people who used the service and the attending children had benefited from this arrangement.

• People were happy living at Broadacres. Everybody said they felt safe. Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. They knew how and when to report concerns. Risk was assessed and managed while also supporting people’s freedom and autonomy. When things went wrong action was taken to reduce further risk and the incident was used as an opportunity to learn and improve.

• There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff were recruited in a safe way so that so far as possible only staff with the right skills and characteristics were employed. People received their medicines at the right time and in the right way.

• The environment was very clean and tidy. Staff knew about infection prevention and control and had all the personal protective equipment they required.

• Staff had the training and support they required to meet people’s needs. They were supported to keep up to date so that care and support was delivered in line with evidence based practice and current legislation.

• People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and to have a balanced diet. People were very complimentary about the meals provided. Staff knew how to recognise people’s changing needs and supported people to access the healthcare services they required as soon as this was required. The premises were adapted to meet people’s needs and promote their independence. Consent to care and treatment was always sought in line with legislation.

• People praised the staff and told us the care they received was always kind and compassionate. Staff knew and understood people’s needs and always involved people in decision making about their care and support. People had their privacy and dignity respected and their independence promoted.

• People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. This meant that the person’s liberty was only deprived following authorisation and a best interest decision.

• People were supported to raise concerns and complaints should they need to and staff used this as an opportunity to learn and improve.

• People and their relatives were supported when people were at the end of their lives. Staff were proud and passionate when speaking about how they had supported people. People and staff were encouraged to remember people who had died at the service and this supported people, relatives and staff through the bereavement process.

• There was a clear vision shared by staff and managers which was based on a positive, open and inclusive person-centred culture. There was strong leadership, a clear management structure and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. People and staff praised their managers and felt supported by them. Equality and inclusion was promoted and people a

The inspection took place on 28 June 2016 and was unannounced. The service provided accommodation for persons who require support or personal care. There were 27 people living in the home when we inspected.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

The people living in the home were safe. Staff were knowledgeable about how to protect people from harm and reporting concerns. People received support to take their medicines safely and risk assessments were in place to minimise avoidable harm. The environment in which people lived was safely maintained.

Staff were well trained and people felt that they were very competent in their roles, and some training had been tailored specifically to individual’s needs. Staff were supported with supervisions in addition to training. Staff had knowledge of gaining consent from people and sought this before providing care.

There was a good choice of food and drink which people enjoyed. Where people were at risk of not eating and drinking enough they were supported effectively with this. They had regular ongoing access to healthcare.

People were supported by compassionate staff who placed people’s wellbeing as a priority. Staff had built strong relationships with people and always respected people’s dignity and privacy. People could choose what they wanted to do, and when. People were supported to maintain their relationships with their loved ones.

There were many activities on offer in the home as well as visiting entertainment and events. People were supported to keep their cars at the home and keep their independence as much as possible. Their health needs were responded to in a way that had a lasting positive impact on their quality of life.

The manager was supportive to the staff in the home, who worked well together as a strong team. There were many systems in place to assure quality of care through the auditing and monitoring of specific areas.