The British Home

The British Home is located in Chicago’s western suburb of Brookfield, Illinois which is also home of Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo. There are 72 certified beds at The British Home. The British Home participates in Medicare and Medicaid. Its ownership is a non-profit corporation. The overall rating of The British Home is much above average.

The British Home has a resident and family council. Residents and family council can arrange for communications with the facility’s staff. Illinois and federal law requires nursing homes to allow councils to be set up by residents and families. It is always a good idea to consult with the administrator of the nursing facility to know whether or not the nursing home has a resident and family council. If there is not a council in place at the nursing home you are interested in or have a loved one residing, speak to a council president to find out how the nursing home has acted and why it doesn’t have a council in place.

The Illinois Department of Health and Human Services regularly inspects Illinois nursing homes on average every 18 months. In cases where a resident or a family member or a loved one files a complaint with the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services, a complaint inspection will take place at the facility. Between August 1, 2015 and July 31, 2016, there were no complaint inspections held at The British Home. There was one standard health inspection report of January 22, 2016.

Based on interview and record review, the facility failed to notify a resident’s family of a resident’s admission to the hospital due to a change in physical condition. On January 19, 2016, a family member stated that she came to attend the resident’s care plan conference at the facility and understood that on the same date, the facility sent the resident to a doctor’s office visit for follow up of her open heart surgery. The family member became aware of the doctor’s visit and then learned that the resident was sent to the hospital emergency room and admitted. The family member stated that she found from the hospital personnel and the resident that the resident had pneumonia and an infection in her sternum at the surgical site from her open heart surgery. The family member was understandably upset that she was not notified of the physical condition of the resident and the hospitalization.

In another instance, The British Home was cited based on interview and record review that it failed to report and investigate an allegation of mistreatment and abuse to rule out staff mistreatment. On January 19, 2016, during the facility initial tour, a resident stated that some of the staff at The British Home were rough with him. The resident stated that approximately 3 weeks ago he needed assistance to get off of the toilet and that a certified nursing aide (CNA) came to help. The resident stated that he usually needed guidance in placing his wheelchair in the bathroom for easy transfer. The resident stated that the CNA pulled him from his side and he fell back to the toilet.

On January 20, 2016, The British Home administrator and abuse coordinator were interviewed concerning the resident’s allegation of staff mistreatment. The Director of Nursing stated that she had talked to the resident, but did not feel like the statement given by the resident was an abuse issue. There was no documentation of the conversation that was held with the resident. The facility did not document the allegation of staff mistreatment. Upon receiving reports of abuse, a licensed nurse or physician shall immediately examine the resident and findings recorded in the medical record.

The British Home was cited for 11 health deficiencies which included 2 for mistreatment, four for quality care, one for resident rights, two for pharmacy services and two for environmental. There were also 10 fire safety deficiencies found. The average number of fire safety deficiencies in Illinois is 6.5 and the national average of 3.3.

Staffing at The British Home is considered above average. The registered nurse staffing rating is average. The total number of licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day at The British Home was 1 hour and 32 minutes. This compared favorably to the Illinois and national averages. The registered nurse hours per resident per day at The British Home is 50 minutes. The LPN/LVN hours per resident per day at The British Home was 42 minutes. This was slightly higher than the Illinois average of 37 minutes. The certified nursing aide hours per resident per day at The British Home was 3 hours and 37 minutes which was much higher than the Illinois average of 2 hours and 15 minutes and the national average of 2 hours and 38 minutes. The British Home also scored on average much higher than Illinois and the national average for physical therapy staff hours per resident per day. At The British Home the physical therapy staff hours per resident per day was listed at 13 minutes. The Illinois and national average for physical therapy staff hours per resident per day is just 6 minutes.

Under federal law, all nursing homes, including those in Illinois, are required to have enough staff to sufficiently and safely care for its nursing home and long-term residents. However, there is no current federal standard for the best nursing home staffing levels.

Illinois nursing homes must have at least one registered nurse for at least 8 straight hours a day, 7 days a week and either a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse/licensed vocational nurse on duty 24 hours per day. Some states, including Illinois, may have additional staffing requirements. Certified nursing aides should provide care to nursing home residents 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. In the category of physical therapy service hours, that depends on really what the facility’s residents require or how the Illinois nursing home is set up to specialize. The staffing numbers that are listed on the Medicare.gov website for Illinois nursing homes are based on information reported by the nursing home. They represent staffing levels for a 2-week period prior to the time of a state inspection.

50.2% of The British Home’s short-stay residents made improvements in function while a resident there. 48% of The British Home’s short-stay residents were successfully discharged to the community. This percentage at The British Home was slightly lower than the Illinois average at 51.5%. 95.7% of The British Home’s short-stay residents were assessed and given the appropriate seasonal influenza vaccine. This percentage at The British Home was considerably higher than the Illinois average at 75.1% and the national average of 80.1%.

24.1% of The British Home’s long-stay residents developed pressure sores while a resident there. This percentage was considerably higher than the Illinois and national averages which were 6.2% and 5.8%, respectively. 12.4% of The British Home long-stay residents were shown to have worsened ability to move independently. This percentage at The British Home was lower than the Illinois average of 17.9% and the national average of 18.2%. 97.8% of The British Home’s long-stay residents were assessed and given the appropriate pneumococcal vaccine. This was higher than both the Illinois and national averages. 100% of The British Home’s long-stay residents were assessed and given the appropriate seasonal influenza vaccine.

The British Home has not received any federal fines in the last 3 years. It is possible that Illinois may have imposed a penalty under state law, but none are listed. To search for the Illinois state penalties, there is a separate website that would allow for an independent viewing of any such fines.

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