3 April 2017
During a routine inspection
Housing & Care 21 Highdown Court is an extra care service consisting of 54 individual apartments within the building, 34 of which are rented by people or people have a shared equity. There is an office base and care staff provide people with a range of services including personal care, medicines management, shopping and cleaning services. At the time of our inspection, 37 people were receiving care and support from the provider.
A manager was in post and they were completing the process to register with the Commission. 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.’
People felt safe living in their homes at Highdown Court. Staff had been trained to recognise the signs of potential abuse and knew what action to take if they had any concerns. Generally people’s risks were identified, assessed and managed appropriately. Where risk assessments were not in place in a couple of areas, these were discussed with the manager, who undertook to complete a review of all risk assessments. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and new staff were recruited safely. Care staff administered or prompted some people with their medicines; other people managed their own medicines. Medicines were managed safely.
Staff had completed training in a range of areas considered essential by the provider to enable them to support people effectively. New staff completed the provider’s version of the Care Certificate, a universally recognised qualification. Staff received supervision meetings every three months and attended staff meetings organised by the manager. Staff had been trained in mental capacity and worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. However, people lived independently in their own homes and were not subject to the requirements of this legislation. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals and services and staff supported them to contact professionals as needed.
People were looked after by kind and caring staff and positive relationships had been developed. People were treated with dignity and respect and staff understood how to support people in an unobtrusive and discreet manner. If appropriate, people were supported by staff to stay in their own homes as they reached the end of their lives.
People received personalised care and care plans provided information and guidance to staff on how to care and support people in line with their preferences. People said that care staff were punctual in their call times. Generally, activities were organised by the housing provider, but care staff did plan some activities with people. Many people organised their own social lives and accessed the community independently. The provider had a complaints policy in place.
People were asked for their feedback about the service and the provider had recently sent out the latest survey. Results from the 2016 survey were positive. Staff felt supported by management and they could access senior staff and management at any time. People spoke positively about the care they received from staff. Audits were in place to measure and monitor the service provided. Where improvements were identified, actions were taken to address these.