Housing 21 - Cedar Court

Updated 14 January 2023

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

The inspection was carried out by one 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 were two registered managers in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the two registered managers at the service. We spoke with nine people who used the service and one relative. We held an online meeting for staff, two senior staff and six care workers attended and spoke with us. We reviewed a range of records. This included care records for five people. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and quality of the service, were reviewed and sent to us after the site visit.

Updated 14 January 2023

About the service

Housing 21 – Cedar Court is specialist 'extra care' housing that can provide personal care for up to 40 people. At the time of the inspection 35 people aged 55 and over received care. People lived in self-contained flats across three floors of the service which is located in the London Borough of Lewisham.

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 told us they received good quality care and they had seen improvements in the support staff provided since the last inspection. The provider had processes in place to ensure suitable staff were employed to provide care and support. Staff were supported through ongoing supervision, appraisal and training.

Medicines were managed safely. The registered manager implemented the provider’s medicines policy to ensure staff administered medicines to people in a safe way. Staff were trained and assessed as competent to administer medicines. The quality of medicine administration records had improved since the last inspection and these were reviewed and checked for accuracy.

People had an assessment that considered their care and support needs. There were regular reviews of care records to ensure care was accurate and delivered in a safe way. Risk management plans were in place and these provided staff with detailed guidance on how to support people and to reduce and manage risks. Staff understood what abuse was and all staff had completed safeguarding training and they understood the importance of reporting any concerns in a timely way.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the service and the quality of care. The registered manager completed quality audits and reviewed the service to ensure care was of a good standard. Feedback was sought and people shared their comments about the service.

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 information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update: The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 3 June 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

Follow up

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