The inspection took place on 22 March 2016 and was announced.We previously inspected the service in July 2013 and asked the provider to make improvements to their management of medicines and the training and support they provided to staff. We returned to the service in October 2013 and found improvements had been made and the provider was meeting the legal requirements inspected at that time.
Housing & Care 21 - Staveley Court provides a personal care service to people living in their own flats. This enables people living at Staveley Court housing complex to maintain their independence and stay in their own home. The main office is situated on the ground floor of the housing complex which is situated on the outskirts of Keighley. On the day of our inspection37 people received personal care from this service.
The registered manager had left their post approximately two weeks prior to our inspection. 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.
We concluded sufficient numbers of staff were employed to ensure people received safe and consistent care. The provider was recruiting additional bank care staff to cover short notice absences to ensure senior care staff had more office based time to complete their duties.
We concluded that overall the systems for administering medicines were safe. Following our inspection the provider contacted us to confirm they had taken action to produce more robust guidance regarding 'as required' medicines.
People told us they felt safe and effective arrangements were in place to protect people from abuse. Potential risks to people’s health and wellbeing were effectively assessed and managed.
Staff had a good knowledge of people’s dietary preferences and the level of nutritional support people required. They provided effective support to ensure people consumed an appropriate diet.
Staff developed good working relationships with local healthcare professionals and worked with them where appropriate to ensure people’s individual healthcare needs were met.
People were cared for by staff who received regular training and development. People told us staff were caring and provided a good standard of care.
People were cared for by regular staff who knew them well. This enabled staff to develop a good understanding of how to meet people’s individual needs. Staff worked with people to help nurture their independent living skills.
People praised the flexibility of the service and said staff were responsive to their individual needs and circumstances.
Rotas were well organised. From our discussions with people and review of records we concluded that missed and late visits were not a feature of this service.
People’s views were regularly sought through residents meetings, care reviews and six monthly quality surveys. People’s feedback was listened to and acted upon.
Care staff were committed to the delivery of high quality care and consistently put the people who used the service first. There was an open and honest staff culture where staff sought opportunities to learn and improve their practices.
We found the senior care team were committed, professional and passionate about providing quality care. However, additional management support was needed whilst the registered manager’s position was recruited to. The registered manager’s duties had not been appropriately covered so it was not clear who had overall responsibility for driving improvements in the service.
Some care records needed improvement to ensure they contained accurate and complete information. Staff could not evidence that robust checks of care records had taken place.
Some of the systems and processes which audited the quality of care provided needed improvement. For example, daily notes were not checked in a timely manner and there was not a comprehensive audit of the medicines management system.
We identified one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.