Archived: Alexandra Court

Updated 1 March 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One adult social care inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

This service is an extra care facility. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats within Alexandra Court. It provides a service to older adults.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit to be sure the registered manager, staff and people they supported would be available to speak with us.

What we did:

Before our inspection we completed our planning tool and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service and previous inspection reports.

As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with four people who were supported at Alexandra Court. We also gained feedback from three visiting relatives during the visit. We spoke with three members of staff, the registered manager, the nominated individual for the service and the Chief Executive Officer for the organisation.

To gather information, we looked at a variety of records. This included care plan records relating to three people who used the service. We also looked at other information related to the management of the service. We did this to ensure the management team had oversight of the service and they could respond to any concerns highlighted or lead in ongoing improvements.

Updated 1 March 2019

About the service:

This service is an extra care facility which provides personal care to people in 'supported living' accommodation within 21 purpose built flats in Alexandra Court. One of the flats is used for respite (short-term) care. At the time of our visit 16 people were being supported with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

People supported by the service and their relatives consistently told us the registered manager and staff who supported them were polite, reliable, caring and professional in their approach to their work. They spoke positively about the quality of service provided. One relative told us, “This is a nice place to be. It is fabulous and we are never disappointed. Our relative is safe; cared for whilst remaining independent. The staff are good, caring people. We couldn’t wish for any better."

People’s care and support had been planned proactively and in partnership with them. People felt consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The service worked in partnership with healthcare professionals and families to ensure people’s health care needs were met. People were supported to attend healthcare appointments to ensure their health and wellbeing was maintained.

Each flat had its own kitchen area and people could be supported to cater for themselves within their flat. However we saw that everyone chose to prepare their own breakfast and attended the dining room for lunch and evening meals which had been prepared by the service.

Staff retention was very good and people told us they were supported by staff who knew and consistently met their needs. Staffing levels were continuously reviewed to ensure there were enough staff to provide a flexible and responsive care. People supported by the service and their relatives consistently told us they felt safe. One person told us, “Its peace of mind.”

There had not been any safeguarding incidents or complaints since the last inspection. However policies and procedures were in place and the registered manager understood the actions to take should there be any incidents.

The registered provider and the registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. This enabled Alexandra Court to be monitored and improve areas that were identified through their quality monitoring processes.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (Report published 19 March 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. Ongoing monitoring included information that quality had improved. We checked this in looking at the quality and safety of the service.

Follow up:

The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service.