Cherry Cottage

Updated 13 April 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Cherry Cottage is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This service also provides care and support to people living in three ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 took place on 1, 2 and 3 April 2019. The first day of inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

Before the inspection

We reviewed notifications received from the service in line with their legal obligations. We looked at information the provider had sent us about the service in the Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We asked the local authority to give us feedback about the service.

During the inspection

We looked at six people’s care records and checked records relating to people's medicines. We checked audits and quality assurance reports, incident and accident records, as well as recruitment, supervision and training information. We walked around the services and observed care people received at various times. We spoke with six people who used the service and observed interactions between people living at the service and staff.

We spoke to different staff around the service and had more in-depth conversations with four staff members. These included a support worker, a senior care staff member, the acting manager and the registered manager.

Updated 13 April 2019

About the service:

Cherry Cottage is a residential care home, providing accommodation and personal care to seven people at the time of the inspection. Overseen by the registered manager and therefore effectively attached to the Cherry Cottage care home service are a variety of ‘supported living’ services, where people lived in their own tenancies. These are part of the provider’s overall setup at New Hall in Fazakerley, but offer people a first step into more independent living. There were 12 people living in the supported living bungalows and flats next to Cherry Cottage when we visited. Both the care home and attached supported living services specialise in the care for people with different health and care needs, autism and/or learning disabilities, as well as people with mental health conditions. Cherry Cottage and the attached supported living services are a short walk away from local shops and public transport.

People’s experience of using this service:

We found some very positive examples of the difference staff had made to people’s lives. However, learning and planning to underpin at times complex support needed to be more robust to provide a consistently safe, quality service. We made a recommendation regarding the effectiveness of review systems. This meant we rated Well-Led as Requires Improvement on this inspection. The service continued to meet the characteristics of good in most of the areas we looked at.

People felt safe living at the service. People were proud of the things they had achieved with staff support. One person told us, “[When I need it] Staff will just sit and listen to me. They have helped me to gain confidence and meet new people.” We heard very good examples of how the service embraced and promoted people’s equality and diversity. The trusting relationship between people and staff was evident in what people were happy for staff to know about.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent. Although Cherry Cottage and the attached services are part of a larger provider setup at New Hall cottages, staff supported people to get involved in the nearby and wider community. Care was person-centred and people were supported to do things they enjoyed, as well as encouraged to learn and try new things.

Managers led the inclusive, caring and compassionate culture of the service with clear dedication and were well respected by people living at the service and the staff. People and staff were involved in the design and delivery of care. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staffing was flexible around people’s wishes. Staff felt well supported and told us everyone worked well together to provide a good service for people.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection we rated the service as Good (1 October 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection that was scheduled based on the previous rating. We inspected to check whether the service had sustained its Good rating.

Follow up:

We will follow up on this inspection through ongoing monitoring of the service, through conversations and notifications.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk