This inspection took place on 28 July and 3 August 2017. The first day of the inspection was unannounced.

Brooklands Nursing Home is registered to provide care and accommodation for 43 people. At the time of our inspection 41 people were living at the home. Although the home is called Brooklands Nursing Home it does not provide nursing care. The home is a purpose built building over two floors with the upper floor accessible by a passenger lift; half of the bedrooms are en-suite.

The home required and had a manager who was registered with the CQC. 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 in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run.

During this inspection we rated the home as overall ‘good’ as there had been improvements in the quality of the service. At our previous inspection In June 2016 the home was rated overall as ‘requires improvement’; we had found breaches of regulations 13 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This was because staff had not received the training, supervision and support they needed to carry out their role effectively. Also the service had not applied the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in the support they gave to people. During this inspection there had been improvements in these areas and the home was no longer in breach of regulations.

People and their relatives were positive about the home, the staff and the care they received. One person told us, “There are very good staff here, I feel safe with them.” Another person said, “The care has been really good.” One relative told us, “It’s got a nice friendly feeling. We were made to feel welcome. We are very pleased, quite happy.” Another relative told us, “She has come on leaps and bounds since she moved here. It’s a great home.”

We saw that the building and it’s environment was safe. The building was bright, clean and fresh. People told us they liked their rooms. One person told us, “My room is lovely; I have everything I need here.” The communal areas were well decorated and the corridors had different themes to help people orientate themselves. Outside there was a well-kept garden with ornaments.

Most people told us that they did not enjoy the food provided. The staff told us that the way food was provided limited people’s choice.

People told us that they were happy with the variety of activities that they could take part in inside and outside the home. One person told us, “I’ve had some lovely days out, Albert Dock, New Brighton and the museum. I’ve also been out for a meal. I’ve made friends here.” Another person told us, “We have things to do. We go to Blackpool, Southport, we have singers coming in. We do jigsaws, drawing and making all sorts.”

Staff at the home received appropriate training and support to be effective in their role. Many staff told us that they thought there was not enough staff allocated to the ground floor of the home. We spoke with the registered manager about this. They told us they would review the deployment of staff at the home.

Staff had the necessary skills for their role. We saw that medication was administered safely and that people who needed support were helped to move around in a safe manner. Any accidents or incidents that happened at the home were recorded by staff and reviewed by a senior staff member for any learning opportunities.

We saw that people had individualised care files containing a care plan, assessments of needs and risk assessments that guided staff to reduce identified risks. People told us that they were well supported with their health needs. If people had particular support needs these were identified in an assessment and appropriate guidance was available for staff. For example in skin care,

This inspection was carried out on14 June 2016 and was unannounced.

Brooklands Nursing Home is registered to accommodate a maximum of 43 people. At the time of our inspection there were 42 people living at the home. It is owned and operated by the partnership of Mark Jonathan Gilbert and Luke William Gilbert.

Although the home is currently called Brooklands Nursing Home it does not provide nursing care. The present owners took the decision to stop providing nursing care some months ago. Since then anybody living at the home who required the support of a registered nurse has been helped to find alternative accommodation and registered nurses no longer work at the home.

The home did not have a registered manager. 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.

During the inspection we spoke with a number of people living at Brooklands and with their relatives. We also spoke to a number of staff who held different roles within the home. We looked around the home and examined records relating to the safety of the home, staff and the care people had received.

At this inspection we found breaches of regulations. This was because staff had not received the support, training and supervision they needed and people’s legal rights had not always been protected as outlined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Staff had not all had the training, supervision or support they needed to carry out their role effectively. This meant that staff may not have the knowledge to support people safely and well. A lack of supervision at key times in the day meant people living at the home did not receive a well organised service.

Not everybody living at the home had been assessed to see if they required a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS). This meant that people may be being deprived of their liberty without the legal protection of a DoLS.

The home did not have a registered manager, however a new manager had been appointed who had considerable experience of management within a care home setting.

Information given by staff on their application forms had not always been checked to ensure it was accurate. References from the person’s most recent employer had not always been obtained. This meant that recruitment procedures had not always been robust enough to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people.

People received the support they needed with their health care including monitoring their health and seeing health care professionals. Medication was managed safely and people received their medication as prescribed.

Systems were in place for reporting any potential safeguarding adults incidents that occurred and these had been followed. People living at the home said they felt safe and were confident to raise a complaint if needed.

People liked and trusted the staff team. Staff were polite and respectful towards people and responded positively to requests for support.

The building was well decorated, clean and tidy with equipment available to support people with their mobility needs. A large outside garden was furnished with chairs, tables and umbrellas so people could enjoy sitting outside.

Systems were in place for assessing and planning improvements to the quality of the service provided. These were on going and had not yet become fully embedded within the home.