ExtraCare Charitable Trust Lovat Fields Village

Updated 1 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 and an assistant inspector, an inspection manager 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. The expert by experience had experience of caring for older people who use regulated services.

Service and service type

ExtraCare Charitable Trust Lovat Fields Village is an Extra Care housing service. It 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 services.

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

The inspection was announced. 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 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 and we sought feedback from the local authority. We looked at the provider’s statement of purpose and any notifications that the provider is required to send us by law. A statement of purpose is a document which includes a standard required set of information about a service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that providers must tell us about. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 16 people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 11 members of staff that included the registered manager, the head of care, the well-being advisor and the dementia and mental wellbeing enabler. We also spoke with the activities coordinator and six care and support staff.

We reviewed a range of records. These included four people's care records, risk assessments, accidents and incident reports and medication records. We also examined two staff recruitment files, staff training and supervision records and a variety of other records in relation to the management of the service. These included management audits, satisfaction surveys and some of the providers policies and procedures.

After the Inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence we found.

Updated 1 February 2020

About the service

ExtraCare Charitable Trust Lovat Fields Village is an Extra Care housing service. The village has 259 apartments and bungalows, and more than 300 people live in the village. 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 our inspection there were 37 people receiving personal care.

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

There was a very comprehensive assessment of people’s needs that looked at all areas of their life such as physical and medical health, people’s mental health needs, social care needs, loneliness, social networks and their family history. As part of the assessment process, the service worked closely with other healthcare professionals such as occupational therapists and district nurses to make sure that care was always based on up to date legislation, and best practice.

Training was tailored to meet people's individual needs and the provider recognised that the on-going development of staff skills, competence and knowledge was central to ensuring high-quality care and support. Staff received regular, useful and engaging supervision from senior staff members. The staff appraisal system ensured that all staff were working to the same vision and values as the provider.

People experienced extremely positive outcomes regarding their health and wellbeing. A well-being advisor was available to support people with anything that could affect people’s health and wellbeing and action was taken quickly to address this. People were empowered to make choices about their health and how it should be monitored and managed.

The provider and the management team were highly committed to ensuring people lived fulfilling lives and were protected from social isolation. People were supported to attend a range of support groups and there was an extensive range of activities on offer to ensure people led meaningful and satisfying lives. New initiatives to combat social isolation and loneliness had been introduced to ensure people’s mental well-being was always maintained.

There was a positive commitment to ensuring innovative steps were taken to meet people’s information and communication needs. We saw that people’s communication needs were assessed and then information was provided to people in the way that suited them best.

The provider was very committed to sharing best practice and taking action on dementia. There was a ‘Dementia and Mental Wellbeing Enabler’ who supported people living with dementia-and other related conditions. They supported people with individual strategies, self- help groups and advice, so they could remain independent in their own homes.

People received compassionate end of life care that was planned with them and their families, in advance and centred around their individual wishes, spiritual beliefs and cultural needs.

A culture of being open and transparent was embedded in the service. There was exceptional communication throughout the service and we saw that regular meetings and focus groups gave people a forum to share their views. Everyone we spoke with confirmed that they felt involved and part of village life. We found the service had a positive culture that was person centred, inclusive and empowering.

The leadership, management and governance of the organisation assured the delivery of high quality, person-centred care. The staff understood the vision and values of the provider and these made sure people were at the heart of the service.

Staff understood their responsibilities to report any unsafe care. New initiatives to recognise and raise awareness of domestic abuse had been introduced, to keep people safe. People had risk assessments in place to enable them to be as independent as they could be in a safe manner.

Robust and safe recruitment checks were carried out to ensure suitable staff were employed to work at the service. The staffing arrangements ensured people were provided with the support they needed.

Peoples medicines were safely managed, and systems were in place to control and prevent the spread of infection.

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 provided care and support in a very caring and meaningful way. They knew the people who used the service very well and had built up kind and compassionate relationships with them. People and relatives, where appropriate, were involved in the planning of their care and support. People’s privacy and dignity was maintained at all times.

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 Outstanding (published 16 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.