Poppy Fields

Updated 20 December 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector, an assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection. The inspection was completed in one day.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we have received about the service since the previous provider’s last inspection. This included checking incidents the provider must notify us about, such as serious injuries and abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority, Healthwatch and professionals who work with the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

On this occasion, we had not asked the provider to send us a provider Information return (PIR). A PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service. This includes what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. However, we offered the provider the opportunity to share information they felt was relevant.

During the inspection

We spoke with 13 people who used the service and one relative and asked them about the quality of the care they or their family member received. We also spoke with two care staff and two team leaders, assessment unit leader, scheme manager, quality and compliance officer, the registered manager and area manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included all or parts of records relating to the care of nine people as well as four medicine administration records. We also reviewed three staff files, training and supervision records and records relating to the safety and management of the service.

After the inspection

We asked the registered manager to provide us with a variety of policies and procedures and additional information. All information was sent within the required timeframe. We used all this information to help form our judgements detailed within this report.

Updated 20 December 2019

About the service

Poppy Fields is an Extra Care Housing scheme that provides personal care for people living in their own flat or house across two sites. There were 49 people using the service at the time of the inspection. The site is split into three parts in two separate sites. People supported include; people living with dementia and people requiring support with regaining their independence in an assessment unit.

In the assessment unit, people lived within their own self-contained flats whilst receiving support to regain their independence with the aim of returning home. If this is not possible, people may then reside permanently at Poppy Fields, or move to a residential care home. Poppy Fields staff provide people with support with their personal care and work alongside health and social care professionals such as physiotherapists and social workers.

People’s experience of using this service:

Quality assurance processes were not consistently implemented to help the provider and the registered manager to identify and act on areas which could pose a risk to people’s safety. There was a lack of provider-led audits in place to hold the performance of the registered manager and other staff to account. We have made a recommendation to the provider about this. There was a lack of best practice guidance and legislation used to inform care planning and risk assessment.

The risks to people’s health and safety were, in most cases recorded within their records. People told us they received their medicines safely.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. We did note there was an inconsistent approach to ensuring that only legally appointed people signed records on behalf of others when decisions were being made for them.

Where people received support with their meals, staff did so effectively and in line with dietary requirements. Although there was conflicting guidance for one person in relation to the support they needed with their meals.

Incidents that could affect people’s safety were reported to the relevant authorities. There were enough staff to care for people safely. People told us they felt the punctuality of staff had improved since the new provider took over the managing of this service. Staff understood how to reduce the risk of the spread of infection in people’s flats.

Staff training was up to date and staff received supervision of their practice. People had access to other health and social care agencies if needed.

People liked the staff, they found them to be caring and respectful and they received personal care in a dignified way. People’s independence was encouraged and privacy respected. People’s care records were person-centred and contained guidance for staff to support them in their preferred way. Innovative methods had been used to provide people with information in formats they could understand. People felt able to make a complaint and were confident their complaint would be acted on. End of life care was not currently provided.

The registered manager had a good knowledge of their regulatory requirement to report concerns to the CQC. People told us they would recommend the service to others but would welcome the opportunity to meet with the registered manager more often. People’s views were requested and acted on.

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

Rating at last inspection: This service was registered with us on 11 October 2018 and this is the first inspection.

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.