Radis Community Care (Helen Court)

Updated 1 April 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by an 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 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to be sure the registered manager would be available to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 21 February 2023 and ended on 24 February 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 22 February 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

The inspection

We spoke with 9 people using the service and 1 relative over the telephone. We also met with a group of 4 people living at Helen Court and visited 1 person in their flat. We spoke with 4 members of care staff, the registered manager, the area manager and the area support manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records, medicine records, staff recruitment files and further records relating to the quality assurance of the service, including audits and training records.

Updated 1 April 2023

Radis Community Care (Helen Court) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in a large purpose built extra care housing community in Witham. On the day of the inspection the service was supporting 27 people, including older people and people with a physical disability.

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

Feedback from people and their representatives was positive. They told us staff were busy but always caring and responsive.

There was a new registered manager. We received positive feedback about the impact they had had since their arrival. They had worked to drive improvements such as updating care plans and promoting person-centred care. Audits and quality checks were practical and improved the care people received. Staff, people and their representatives felt able to raise concerns.

Support was tailored according to people's assessed needs. Staff supported people to maintain independent lives and continue living at home. Risk assessments were in place and recently updated care plans provided improved guidance about people's needs.

There were enough safely recruited staff to meet the needs of people using the service. The registered manager communicated well with other professionals to ensure care and staffing levels adapted to reflect people’s changing needs.

Staff received an induction when they started work. Ongoing training was provided to the staff team to ensure their skills and knowledge remained up to date. Staff told us they felt well supported and morale had improved since the arrival of the new registered manager.

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.

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 21 December 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.