Housing 21 - Farmers Court

Updated 22 May 2018

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

This fully comprehensive inspection took place on 13 April 2018 and was announced because the service provides personal care to people in their own homes. We gave 48 hours’ notice of our inspection to be sure people and staff would be available to talk with us. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before our inspection visit, we looked at and reviewed the Provider’s Information Return (PIR). This is a document that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We found the PIR reflected the service provided.

The provider sent us a list of people who used the service, staff, and stakeholders before our inspection. We sent questionnaires to people who used the service, but only received one response. We also sent questionnaires to staff and received one response. In addition we gained feedback from a health professional who had regular contact with people who used the service. We looked at the feedback from the questionnaires and reviewed the information to form part of our judgements.

We also reviewed the information we held about the service. This included information shared with us by the local authority commissioners and statutory notifications. Commissioners are people who work to find appropriate care and support services which are paid for by the local authority. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During our inspection visit we obtained feedback from six people who lived at Farmers Court. We spoke with three members of care staff about what it was like to work for the service and to the registered manager about their management of the service. We also received feedback from an independent advocate and another health professional, who had regular contact with people who lived at Farmers Court.

We looked at a range of records about people’s care including three care files. We also looked at other records relating to people’s care such as medicine records and daily logs. This was to assess whether the care people needed was being provided.

We reviewed records of the checks the registered manager/ provider made to assure themselves people received a quality service. We looked at staff records to check that safe recruitment procedures were in operation, and staff received appropriate supervision and support to continue their professional development.

Updated 22 May 2018

The inspection took place on 14 April 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider two days’ notice of our inspection visit so we could be sure the registered manager was available to speak with us. Housing and Care 21 is a large provider of care services.

Farmers Court provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is 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 services. There were 29 people living at Farmers Court who received personal care from care staff in their own homes. These arrangements ensured people lived as independently as possible.

Not everyone using Farmers Court received the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was an experienced registered manager in post. A requirement of the service’s registration is that they have a registered manager. 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.

At our previous inspection in November 2015 we rated the service as ‘Good’ overall, but ‘Requires Improvement’ in Well–led. At this inspection we have rated the service as ‘Good’ in all areas. There had been changes in the management team since our previous inspection, and people’s feedback about how the home was managed was positive.

The vision of the staff and management team at Farmers Court was to assist people to remain as independent as possible whilst living in their own homes. Staff were enthusiastic and positive about their work in enabling people to remain independent.

People were encouraged and supported by caring and compassionate staff to follow their agreed care plans. Staff were well trained and effectively used their skills and knowledge to develop relationships with people and respond to people’s individual needs.

Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe and protect them from harm. Policies and guidance were accessible to staff to remind them how to raise concerns following the provider’s safeguarding policies. Risks to people had been assessed and risk mitigation plans were in place to instruct staff on how to support people safely.

People had their prescribed medicines available to them. Staff supported some people to take their medicines, and other people were able to manage their own medicines and were encouraged to do so. Staff received training in the safe handling, administering and recording of people’s medicines.

People were involved in planning their own care. Staff read people’s care plans and received an induction and training so that they knew people well. Further training took place to update and refresh staff skills and knowledge.

The registered manager and staff understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and worked within the principles of this.

Health and social care professionals were involved in the planning and delivery of people’s care; staff followed the guidance given by health and social care professionals. People’s agreed care and support was reviewed when required.

People said staff were kind and respectful toward them. People’s feedback on the service was sought by the provider, and feedback was acted upon. People told us they felt they could raise concerns or complaints if they needed to.

The provider and registered manager had quality monitoring processes which included audits and checks on medicines management, care records and staff practices. Where improvement was identified, action was taken.