We carried out a review of the data available to us about Arch Hill Court on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Arch Hill Court, you can give feedback on this service.
Arch Hill Court is a service providing personal care to people in their own homes. The extra care housing service supports people living independently in their own flats and who have access to a number of communal areas. In addition, Arch Hill Court cares for people living in the own homes in the community. People supported include younger and older people who may live with dementia, mental health needs, physical disabilities or sensory impairments. Ninety people were in receipt of care at the time of the inspection.
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 had developed strong relationships with the staff caring for them. Relatives told us staff were considerate and their family members were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well. Staff encouraged people to make their own decisions about their care, and people’s decisions were listened to. People’s rights to dignity, independence and privacy were recognised by staff.
Staff understood how to recognise abuse and were confident the registered manager would support people, if any concerns were identified. People were supported to receive their care at the time planned. Staff knew what risks people experienced and acted to reduce people’s risks. Systems were in place to take learning from any incidents.
People’s needs were assessed, and they were supported to have enough to eat and drink, and see other health professionals, so they would enjoy the best health possible. Staff knew how to care for people and felt supported to provide good care through comprehensive training and induction programmes. 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.
People and their relatives were involved in planning people’s care, which reflected people’s wishes, and said their views were acted on. Staff supported people as their needs changed, so they continued to receive the care they wanted. People were supported to raise any concerns or complaints and systems were in place to take learning from these. Staff had received compliments regarding the quality of care provided at the end of people’s lives.
People, relatives and staff were positive about the way the service was managed and were encouraged to make suggestions for developing people’s care further. The registered manager and provider checked the safety and quality of the care, so they could be assured people’s needs were met. The registered manager understood their responsibilities to drive through improvements to people’s care, and development of the service was informed by best practice standards and work undertaken with other organisations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 03 February 2017).
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Arch Hill Court provides personal care for people living in a purpose built scheme where there are individual flats with shared facilities that included a dining and lounge room. There were 26 people receiving personal care when we inspected. There was a registered manager in post at the time 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People told us they felt safe when the care staff were in their homes and the care staff called at the expected times which helped to make them feel safer. Care staff we spoke with told us they were aware of the potential types of abuse people were at risk of and the action to take to report and protect people from the risk of further abuse. People had been involved in agreeing and recording their levels of risk during personal care and how they expected care staff to minimise these risks.
People told us they did not feel rushed during their call. People had discussed with the provider their concerns about continuity of staff and the registered manager and team leader had taken steps to improve on this. Where people needed help with their medicines care staff recorded when these were needed and administered. Care staff had been trained and told us they were supported to keep their skills and knowledge updated. Care staff were regularly observed by their manager to ensure they provided the expected care to people policy and procedures. Care staff were happy that the registered manager would look at additional training on request or if needed to meet a person’s need.
People showed us their care plans and said that they had agreed to these and the information they contained about their care and support provided. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People said care staff always explained what they were doing and they felt listened to. Care staff prepared and cooked people’s meals which they chose or were supported to purchase from the onsite restaurant within the scheme. Where other health professionals were involved in people’s care their advice and guidance was followed by care staff. People said that care staff arranged health appointments on their behalf if they asked.
People told us that care staff recognised and valued their level of independence by encouraging and involving them in their care. People knew the care staff well and felt they had developed positive relationships with them. Care staff were considerate when talking about people and knew it was important to maintain a person’s privacy and dignity when in their home providing personal care.
People told us that if their care needs changed then care staff would record and update their care plans to reflect this. Care staff had also been involved in supporting people if they noticed a change in their needs and where appropriate involved people's families. People told us they knew how to complain if they needed to, however people felt comfortable to raise small issues or concerns directly with care staff which were then resolved.
People felt involved in their care and support and were regularly asked for their views and opinions The registered manager told us they ensured they were available and welcomed feedback from people, care staff and relatives. Care staff felt the management team were open and informed them when making any changes to the scheme. Regular checks made by the management team monitored the quality of the care that people received.