Archived: Housing & Care 21 - Willow Court

We went back on this visit to see whether improvements had been made.

On the day of our inspection we arrived at Willow Court at 7.15am; we spoke with the care assistant that had worked the night shift and two care assistants, who had just started their morning shift, before they went out to care for people in their flats.

Later in the morning we spoke with the two care team leaders, a fourth care assistant, the new manager of the service, three people who lived at Willow Court and a local authority contracts officer who was also visiting the service on that day. After the visit we spoke with one of the other two regular night care assistants, three more people who used the service, the locality manager and the scheme manager for Pennine Housing (the landlord of the building). The new manager explained that they had started in post on 14 October 2013. They said, 'I will be applying to the Care Quality Commission to become the registered manager for the service. I'm just waiting for my Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks to come through.'

One of the care team leaders told us all 52 flats at Willow Court were currently occupied and 30 people living there were receiving personal care from Housing 21. They told us four care assistants had been recruited since our last visit, two of which had already started work.

The five care assistants we spoke with told us there had recently been changes in procedures relating to the administration of medicines and all staff working at the service had undertaken update training in medications. We saw changes had been made since our last visit to make medications administration safer.

Staff also told us staffing during the day had improved since our last visit but staffing at night had not changed. Only one night care assistant worked at Willow Court from 9pm to 7.30am. Staff were concerned that the staffing levels at night were not adequate to meet people's needs in a timely and safe manner. Staff comments included:-

'Some people would like to change their bedtime but we can't accommodate them because of the staffing constraints and rota timings.'

'We call the out-of-hours team if we can't cope with the workload at night but they are not happy when we do that. They say they have not been trained to use our equipment and it's not their job to put people to bed.'

When we asked six people living at Willow Court about staffing their feedback was mixed. They told us staff during the day were generally able to meet people's needs. Everyone we spoke with felt there should be more staff on at night. Comments from people living at Willow Court included:-

'I want two care assistants on at night and I have done for the last four years.'

'I've got to go to bed at 9.30pm, I've no choice as the staff finish at 10pm. It would be nice to be able to ring and tell them (the care assistants) when I am ready for bed.'

'I think it would be better with two people on at night.'

Following our visit the service increased staffing in the evening so there were two staff on duty until midnight. They also said they would review the agreement with the out-of-hours team to ensure people's needs could be met in a timely and safe manner between midnight and 7am.

On the day of our inspection we visited the office at Willow Court, where we spoke with the locality manager and the acting care team leader. The locality manager told us they had recently recruited a new manager for the service who was due to take up their position on 14 October 2013. The locality manager said 'The new manager will be applying to the Care Quality Commission to become the registered manager for the service'.

The managers explained that Pennine Housing was the landlord and Housing 21 was the care provider for the people living at Willow Court. Pennine had responsibility for the cleaning and upkeep of the building and Housing 21 was responsible for the care services.

We looked around Willow Court and saw that it was modern, clean and well-maintained. There was a communal lounge, dining room, hairdressing salon and IT suite on the ground floor. The managers explained that the hairdressers and bistro within Willow Court were private businesses, which were also used by the local community.

During our visit we spoke with four people who lived at Willow Court and four health care assistants. The health care assistants told us Housing 21 was a good company to work for and they felt confident the service provided was good. One of them said 'Families are reassured that people have the care they need here' and another said 'I think Willow Court is like a little hotel'. Care workers received appropriate training for their role and told us they felt well-supported.

Comments from people living at Willow Court included:-

'The care staff are as nice as any staff I've ever come across'.

'When we came here a lot of people were more active; now they are more dependent and frail. 'Extra care' is becoming 'total care'. It's probably due to the aging population'.

'We have residents' meetings but they're a bit ad hoc. I don't attend any more'.

'I would like to go out more but there's nowhere to go'.