Unique Senior Care - Queensway Court

Updated 11 April 2019

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 activity started on 24 December 2018 when we contacted 10 care staff via email to ask for their feedback of the service. We received feedback before our inspection visit from two team leaders and two members of care staff. We spoke with another member of staff during our inspection visit.

We also received feedback from stakeholders who regularly visited or supported people at Unique Senior Care, Queensway Court. We received feedback from one relative, a member of the Resident’s Association, two external training organisers, the housing authority who owned the building, three local community organisations, two health professionals, and three commissioners of the service. The commissioners were responsible for organising the care some people received at the service.

We looked at the information we held about the service and the provider. We looked at statutory notifications the provider had sent us. Statutory notifications are reports the provider is required by law to send us, to inform us about incidents that have happened at the service, such as an accident or a serious injury.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We found the PIR was reflective of what we found during our visit.

We visited the office location on the 4 January 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. This visit was announced and completed by two inspectors.

During the inspection visit we spoke with four people who lived at Queensway Court and one person’s relative, the registered manager, both owners of the agency (in the report we refer to them as the provider) and a senior care worker. We reviewed care plans for three people including their daily records to see how their care and support was planned and delivered. We looked at other records related to people's care and how the service operated. These included medicine records, complaints, staff training records and the provider’s quality records. Quality records included audits and notes of meetings with staff.

Updated 11 April 2019

The inspection took place on the 4 January 2019 and was announced. We previously rated this service in November 2017 and had rated the service ‘Requires Improvement’ overall, with a rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ in Caring, Responsive and Well Led.

Unique Senior Care – Queensway Court is registered to provide personal care 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 or purchased on a shared ownership scheme, 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 only looked at people’s personal care service. Not everyone using Unique Senior Care received the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

Queensway Court has 178 one or two-bedroom apartments. People living at Queensway Court share on site facilities such as a lift, lounge, restaurant, laundry, garden, activities room, café, a hairdressing salon and a bar.

At the time of this inspection visit, Unique Senior Care supported 57 people with personal care. Unique Senior Care also provides an on-call emergency service to everyone living in the building, not just those people who they were contracted to provide personal care to.

The service had 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.

People benefitted from a service that was very well led. The provider had robust quality monitoring arrangements through which they continually reviewed evaluated and improved people's care. People, stakeholders and staff had an opportunity to shape all aspects of the service. The provider invested in staff development to ensure people received care from experienced and caring leaders.

There was a strong emphasis on safety and staff were skilled and proactive in recognising and reducing risk. They used innovative ways to support people to stay safe in their own homes, lead fulfilling lives and minimise restrictions on their freedom. Care staff were available on site 24 hours a day to respond to emergencies in people’s homes, this included people who did not have arranged care packages with Unique Senior Care. People had alarms fitted in their home, and could chose to use these if they required immediate care or assistance, even though this might be outside their agreed package of care and their usual call times. People and families praised the exceptional skills of staff who supported them. Their comments included: “This place has definitely extended my life” And, “The staff are exceptional, especially the night care.”

Staff used best practice evidence and felt supported in their role. Innovative training methods helped staff understand people’s experience of becoming frailer, and experiencing visual impairment. They were proactive in ensuring people received healthcare quickly to reduce hospital admissions and for those people who were in hospital, or were newly discharged from hospital, increased support was provided.

The provider had strong values which shaped their service. They continually recognised the valuable contribution of their staff, re-enforced and rewarded positive staff values, attitudes and behaviours. They worked in innovative ways to enrich people's lives and improve their wellbeing so that people received a personalised service that promoted their independence and enhanced their quality of life. People were at the heart of everything the service did, they felt valued and that they mattered.

People living with dementia received best practice care. They promoted and encouraged people with dementia to live well. The service worked in partnership with local health and social care organisations to improve people's health. Staff taught people, relatives, staff and local people about the various types of dementia, and how it affected people. They signposted people to other local services.