Background to this inspection
Updated
12 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 undertaken 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, through a shared ownership scheme 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
This inspection was announced. We gave the service two working days notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 five people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including, the registered manager, assistant care managers and two care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and their medicine records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. 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. We received feedback on the service via email from three health and social care professionals.
Updated
12 February 2020
About the service
Housing 21 - Stanbridge House is an extra care housing scheme. The scheme comprises of ten one-bedroom flats and sixty two-bedroom flats. People had a range of needs including older people and people with a physical disability. They received support with their personal care, support with medicines, food shopping and cleaning. People could also be visited by care workers from other external providers. At the time of the inspection 25 people were receiving support with personal care.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were happy with the support they received. They could contribute to the type of support they received and were a part of the development of their support plans. Information in people’s support plans was informative and person centred, giving staff details on how the person wanted to be supported. People using the service were supported to access activities in the service and go into the community to reduce the risk of social isolation.
People felt safe living at the service and were supported by staff who knew how to protect them from harm and abuse. The provider had a complaints process in place and people told us they knew what to do if they wished to raise any concerns. Risks to people's safety and well-being were managed through a risk management process. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs. Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed.
People were supported to eat a healthy diet and to access health care professionals when required.
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.
Staff were positive about working in the service and confirmed they received ongoing support and training. The service had a clear management and staffing structure in place. Staff worked well as a team and understood people’s needs. The provider had quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service.
The provider had processes in place for the recording and investigation of incidents and accidents.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection The last rating for this service was good (published 10 July 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.