Bury Council - Falcon & Griffin Extra Care Scheme

Updated 8 September 2017

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.

This was an announced inspection which took place on 08 August 2017. In accordance with our guidance, two working days prior to the inspection we contacted the service and told them of our plans to carry out a comprehensive inspection of the service. This was to ensure a representative of the registered provider was available and able to provide the information we needed when we visited the service. The inspection team comprised of one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the completed provider information return (PIR) that had been sent to us. This is a form that asks the provider to give us some key information about the service, what the service does well and what improvements they plan to make. We also looked to see if any notifications had been sent to us. A notification is information about important events that affect the service that the provider is legally required to send to us.

We also contacted the local authority commissioning team and the Six Town Housing to seek their views on how they felt the service was run. The information we received is included in the ‘Caring and 'Well-led' section of this report.

We visited the service on the 08 August 2017 and spoke with six people who used the service, the deputy manager, a registered manager from another Bury Metropolitan Borough Council service who was overseeing the running of the service, a senior support worker and two support workers.

We also looked at two care records, two medicine administration records and records about the how the service was managed; these included environmental and fire risk assessments, staff training and supervision records, quality assurance audits, and policies and procedures.

Updated 8 September 2017

Falcon and Griffin Extra Care Scheme provides personal care and support to mainly older people, who live within a sheltered housing scheme. The Extra Care Scheme consists of two blocks of one bedroom flats and bungalows. Falcon House has 20 flats and 15 bungalows and Griffin House has 20 flats and 14 bungalows. Whilst the housing is managed by Six Town Housing in Bury , the care is provided by the staff of Bury Metropolitan Borough Council. The buildings are situated in a residential area that is close to bus routes that lead to Bury and to Rochdale.

This was an announced inspection which took place on 08 August 2017. In accordance with our guidance, two working days prior to the inspection we contacted the service and told them of our plans to carry out a comprehensive inspection of the service. This was to ensure a representative of the registered provider was available and able to provide the information we needed when we visited the service.

At the time of the inspection the scheme was providing personal care and support to18 people. In addition the scheme provides a service whereby they contact all the people in the flats and the bungalows on a twice daily basis via the intercom system. This was to check on people’s welfare and safety. We were told that two of the flats were also used as a ‘halfway house’ to enable an earlier discharge from hospital for people who, although medically fit, still required care and support.

Falcon and Griffin Extra Care Scheme has a registered manager who, due to authorised leave, was not present on the day of the inspection. 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.

The service was previously inspected in January 2015 when we found the registered provider was meeting all the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We saw that suitable arrangements were in place to help safeguard people from abuse. Guidance and training was provided for staff on identifying and responding to the signs and allegations of abuse. Staff were able to demonstrate their understanding of the whistle-blowing procedures (the reporting of unsafe and/or poor practice).

We found sufficient suitably trained staff, who were safely recruited, were employed to ensure people received the support they required. We saw that staff received the essential training and support necessary to enable them to do their job effectively and be able to care and support people safely.

The support staff had received medicine management training and we found the system for managing medicines within people's homes was safe.

Appropriate fire and environmental risk assessments had been completed for the communal areas in order to promote the safety of people who used the service, members of staff and visitors. Risks were also assessed in relation to general safety issues within people's own homes. Procedures were in place to deal with any emergency that could affect the provision of care, such as, severe weather and a failure of the electricity and water supply.

We saw that appropriate arrangements were in place to assess whether people were able to consent to their care. The deputy manager demonstrated a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The MCA provides legal safeguards for people who may be unable to make their own decisions.

People's care records contained enough information to guide staff on the care and support required. The care records showed that risks to people's health and well-being had been identified, such as the risk of poor mobility and risk of falls. We saw that plans were in place to help reduce or eliminate any identified risk. People were involved in regular reviews of their care to ensure the care and support provided met their needs, preferences and wishes.

People told us they considered staff were kind, had a caring attitude and felt they had the right skills and knowledge to care for them safely and properly. We saw that staff treated people with dignity and respect.

To help ensure that people received safe, effective care and support, systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. Systems were also in place for receiving, handling and responding appropriately to complaints.