Background to this inspection
Updated
19 February 2020
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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.
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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.
Inspection activity started on 23 December 2019 and ended on 30 December 2019. We visited the office location on 23 December 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service including Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the registered manager, the senior wellbeing worker, and a wellbeing worker.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
19 February 2020
About the service
Mickle Hill is a purpose-built extra care housing scheme which provides personal care to people in their own homes within the Mickle Hill site. People using the service lived in bungalows and apartments on the site on the outskirts of Pickering. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of inspection 105 people were living at Mickle Hill and 12 people were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People who used the service and their relatives were unreserved in their praise and satisfaction of the service. A frequent comment was that people loved living at Mickle Hill. The service focused on inclusion and treated people as partners in their care and support. People’s needs were central to the Mickle Hill village and the wider local community.
People benefited from a service that was exceptionally well-led. The registered manager supported outcome-driven person-centred care that was entirely focussed on the wellbeing of people and staff. People and staff spoke with high-regard to the registered manager and were clear the service had an open culture, with a strong focus on positivity. Appropriate checks took place across all aspects of care and support. There was a clear emphasis on people, relative and staff engagement. Opportunities were taken to learn and improve the service. The service had formed creative and robust links with the local community and worked strongly in partnership with agencies from this.
People and their relatives agreed the service was very safe. People, relatives and staff had no hesitation that concerns would be acted upon. The service used appropriate and discrete technology to support safety.
Risks were thoroughly assessed and well-managed. Plans encouraged and supported people’s independence wherever possible. The culture of the service supported lessons learnt from any incidents and improvements to processes were considered.
People’s care was highly personalised and considerate to their needs. Activities and social support were very varied and reflected the interests and passions of people. Regular consultation with people ensured this was maintained. The service and staff were very responsive to people’s needs and wishes.
Concerns, compliments and complaints were recorded in detail, consideration was always given to responses and improvements. People were compassionately supported at their end of life with appropriate involvement from health professionals and according to the person’s wishes.
People told us staff were very kind and caring. People’s views and preferences were recorded at pre-assessment and staff were knowledgeable about any changes to these. People said their choices and preferences were respected. People’s privacy and dignity was supported and respected. Documents and records were kept securely.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 5 June 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.