Seckford AlmsHouses

Updated 5 December 2018

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type Seckford Alms Houses is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The agency support 30 flats on the premises and currently had 26 people that they supported.

There was 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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit. We needed to be sure that managers would be available to facilitate this inspection.

What we did:

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. (PIR) This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at information we held about the service including notifications they had made to us about important events. We also reviewed all other information sent to us from other stakeholders for example the local authority and members of the public.

We spoke with eight people during our visit, and one relative. We received feedback in questionnaires from four more people and two more relatives.

We spoke to four staff during our visit and received feedback in questionnaires from eleven more staff. We received five completed questionnaires and two additional written comment feedback from two health and social care professionals.

We reviewed people’s care records, policies and procedures, records relating to the management of the service, training records and the recruitment records of care workers.

Updated 5 December 2018

What life is like for people using this service:

• People using this service still benefitted from an outstanding caring and well led service. People consistently told us how they were treated with exceptional kindness, compassion and respect. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback on how staff were supportive and went the extra mile to get care just right for people. One person told us, “I am very lucky to be here and feel loved and cared for.” Another person told us that they had exacting details of how they liked their night time care, but this was provided just how they liked it and was written down so they did not have to repeat themselves. One person told us, “If you have to go somewhere then here is the perfect place.”

• People were truly placed at the centre of the service and were consulted on every level. Respect for privacy and dignity was at the heart of the service’s culture and values. It is embedded in everything that the service and its staff do. People and staff feel respected, listened to, and influential. One member of staff explained that their role was to give people who lived there a ‘purpose to their lives’. They told us, “I have the best job and it is a privilege.”

• People received exceptionally personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. People decided who provided their care and support, and when. Each person was respected as an individual, with their own social and cultural diversity, values and beliefs. People had their human rights upheld. One person whose first language was not English had their care plan written in two languages to make it accessible to them.

• The whole service continued to have a good track record. The service remained at the heart of the local community with strong community links with a whole host of different community groups regularly visiting and people accessing their community.

• Staff were motivated by and proud of the service. One staff member said, “This place is so friendly and supportive. The staff go above and beyond. The culture is positive from the top to the bottom.” There were high levels of satisfaction across all staff. There was a particularly strong emphasis on continuous improvement with staff gaining additional qualifications and how the service delivery could develop and improve for people who lived in the sheltered accommodation and flats.

• more information in Detailed Findings below

Rating at last inspection:

OUTSTANDING (The date last report published was 23 June 2016)

About the service:

Seckford AlmsHouses is registered as a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity 'personal care' to the people who live in the Seckford Almshouses in Woodbridge. The service provides very sheltered accommodation and support to people who live in their own flats within the building.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains Outstanding.

Follow up:

Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our reinspection schedule for those services rated Outstanding.