Housing 21 - Westhall Court

Updated 9 May 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: One inspector and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type: Housing and Care 21 – Westhall Court provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. CQC regulates the personal care provided. 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. They were being supported by the manager who ran the service on a day to day basis and who intended to apply for registration.

Notice of inspection: The inspection took place on 16 April 2019 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice to ensure that people who lived there would be available to speak with us during our visit.

What we did when preparing for and carrying out this inspection: We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as potential abuse, information from the public, whistle blowing concerns and information shared with us by local commissioners (who commission services of care). The commissioners had no concerns about the service.

In this instance we did not request a provider information return (PIR). This is a form which gives the provider an opportunity to tell us about their service and what they do well. During our visit, we gave the registered manager and staff an opportunity to provide us with this information.

During our inspection visit we spoke with eight people living at the service to understand their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with five relatives. We spoke with five care staff, one domestic staff member, one care administrator, the manager who oversaw the day to day running of the service and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. For example, we looked at four people's care records and a sample of medicine records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service. These included systems for managing complaints, incidents, and feedback from people who used the service. We looked at the provider’s checks on the quality and safety of care provided that assured them they delivered the best service they could. We checked two staff files to ensure they had been recruited safely.

Updated 9 May 2019

About the service: Housing and Care 21 – Westhall Court provides personal care and support to people who live in their own homes within a shared building of flats. This can be older people who may have mental or physical health needs, or people living with dementia. At the time of our visit there were 32 people who received personal care support.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People felt safe living at the service and with the staff that supported them with care.

• The provider’s recruitment procedures had ensured staff were safely recruited.

• Risks related to people’s health were identified and acted upon.

• Staff knew how to protect people from potential abuse and avoidable harm to keep them safe.

• Medicines were managed safely, and people received them as prescribed.

• There were enough staff to support people’s needs including any emergency care needs.

• People's needs were assessed before they lived at the service and staff completed training to ensure these needs could be met safely and effectively.

• People said staff were caring and kind in their approach.

• Staff knew people well, so they could provide them with care and support in ways they preferred.

• People were provided with support to access healthcare professionals when needed.

• People's right to make their own decisions about their care were respected and supported by staff who understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

• People’s care plans contained detailed information for staff to ensure people received the personalised care and support they had agreed.

• Staff understood the importance of respecting people’s privacy and dignity.

• People were supported to be as independent as possible.

• The provider had various quality monitoring systems to check people received safe care and support in accordance with the providers policies and procedures.

• Overall, people were happy living at Housing and Care 21 – Westhall Court. People knew of the complaints process should they have any concerns about the service.

• At the time of our visit there was a registered manager in post. They were being supported by a new manager who intended to register with us.

We found the service met the characteristics of a “Good” rating in all five areas; For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: Good, with ‘Requires Improvement’ in Well - led. At this inspection we found the issues we previously identified in relation to quality assurance systems, and detail within care and medicines records, had been addressed. The last report for Housing and Care 21 – Westhall Court was published on 29 December 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The previous ‘good’ service provided to people had remained consistent.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.