Archived: Housing 21 - Saxon Court

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were protected from the risk of harm or abuse by staff who were trained to deliver safe care and knew about action to take if they felt people were at risk. People and their relatives expressed confidence in the care and support provided by staff who they found to be reliable and caring. Staff recruitment processes were safe and robust to ensure people were supported by suitable staff of good character.

People's care and support needs were assessed and regularly monitored to ensure they were still current and being met. People’s wishes, and legal rights were promoted and protected by staff who had received up to date training which the staff felt equipped them well to deal with any issues.

People and their relatives said staff safely supported them when they needed assistance to move, and any administration of medication by staff was well managed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff advised they had been trained to support people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. People made positive comments about the care and support they received from staff who regularly worked with them.

People and relatives said the staff responded well to changes in how people were to be supported, providing prompt support when people were unwell or had increased care needs. Agreed plans of care reflected the full care and support needs of people.

People and their relatives expressed confidence that any concerns or complaints would be properly addressed. The registered manager was known by people and relatives who regarded them as approachable. Concerns or complaints were responded to in line with the providers policy and procedures.

People were supported to join in a wide range of activities which were arranged in the service to support their well-being and maintain or develop relationships and interests.

The provider had regularly sought feedback on the quality of the service using questionnaires with people and their relatives. The registered manager also had plans to improve how information from the analysis of the questionnaires was shared. The quality of care provided was regularly checked by the registered manager to ensure the provider’s set standards were maintained.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report was published in October 2017)

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.

We last carried out a comprehensive inspection of the service on 29 May and 01 June 2015. At that inspection we found that the provider was providing a good service and the service was given a rating of Good in all the questions we asked.

Saxon Court is housing with care scheme which provides housing with personal care support for people living in Saxon Court. Support is provided to people who require it following assessment of their needs and care is provided by a team of staff based within the scheme. At the time of this inspection 33 people were receiving support.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of 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.

People continued to receive a safe, good quality service that met their needs. Everyone spoken with told us that they felt a safe service was being provided. People told us that they were happy with the care provided, felt safe with the staff and generally had the same staff to support them. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in respect of raising any concerns they had and able to use the systems in place to escalate their concerns.

People were supported to receive an effective service because there were sufficient numbers of suitably recruited and trained staff available. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to remain healthy and to have their personal preferences met.

Systems were in place to keep people safe in emergency situations and to have their medical needs met if needed.

People were supported by staff that were caring, kind, friendly and that helped people to maintain their independence and privacy and dignity.

People’s needs were regularly reviewed to ensure the service continued to meet their needs.

Systems were in place to gather the views of people and to ensure that the quality of the service was regularly reviewed and monitored so that people continued to receive a good quality service.

We spoke with ten people who used the service, one relative, nine staff, two team leaders and the operations manager. All the people we spoke with were positive about the care that they or their relative had received. One person told us, 'I have nothing but praise for the staff". A relative told us, 'They know my wife's needs and the staff treat her very well'.

Staff had received the training and support needed so that they cared for people in a way that met their needs.

Arrangements in place for supporting people to take their medication did not always ensure that people had received their medication safety.

There were arrangements in place for monitoring the quality of the service people had received although these had not always been effective in identifying problem areas.

Some of the records that we looked at had not been maintained in a way that promoted the health and well-being of people who used the service.

People that we spoke with said that they and their relatives were involved in agreeing and planning their care. We found that people's views and experiences were taken into account in how the service was delivered.

People told us that their needs were being met. One person told us, 'They seem alright and they do what they have to do. I have no complaints.' We found that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs, but that not all risks associated with their care was being adequately identified.

People told us that they felt safe with the staff that visited the. One person told us.' We found that the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

People told us that they had no concerns about the staff that visited them. We found that staff were suitably recruited into their role.

People that we spoke with were confident that their complaints would be listened to and acted upon. One person told us, 'I know how to complain. In the past if I have been unhappy I have told the office and they have dealt with it.' We found that systems were in place to investigate people's complaints.