Archived: Roden Court

Updated 16 February 2022

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and two Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared building. The accommodation is bought or rented 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 looked at people’s personal care and support service.

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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and the provider’s action plan. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six staff including the regional manager, registered manager, quality manager, care coordinator, and two care workers. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records and medicine records. We spoke with six people who used the service and five relatives.

Updated 16 February 2022

About the service

Roden Court provides care and support to people living in specialist 'extra care' housing. At Roden Court there are 40 ‘extra care’ flats available for rent. On the day of the inspection there were 39 people receiving personal care in their own flats.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and relatives told us staff did not always treat them with respect. The provider had introduced dignity and respect training for staff but this had not ensured all people felt treated in a friendly manner.

The provider had not ensured staff were always deployed safely to people’s needs were met. People and relatives told us staff were not always on time to provide their care. The provider did not have a system to routinely be alerted to a missed or late call to rectify staffing issues.

Medicines were not always managed safely. Medicines were not always managed as prescribed. Protocols for administering medicines on an as required basis did not contain enough detail for staff to know how to do so safely.

The provider had begun to make improvements in the culture at the service and there was increased oversight from senior management at the service to increase the standards of care provided. However, there was mixed feedback from staff about the registered manager’s leadership. The provider had increased monitoring of the service but this had not highlighted all the concerns found during the inspection in order for the provider to improve the safety of care in these areas.

The provider had improved the infection prevention and control measures at the service. Staff had been given relevant training and wore personal protective equipment safely to minimise the risk of infections spreading.

The provider had improved their management of the risks people faced. People’s risks had been identified, such as the risk of falls, stroke and diabetes. There were plans in place to minimise the risk of harm.

Staff were recruited safely and they understood how to keep people safe from abuse and the provider had put extra measures in place to minimise the risk of financial abuse.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 7 June 2021) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made however there remained areas where further improvement was necessary and the provider was still in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since June 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have begun to be made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 21 January 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve their practices to safeguarding adults from abuse, to promote people’s dignity and respect, and to improve safe care and treatment and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-Led which contain those requirements. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Roden Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service.

We have identified breaches in relation to dignity and respect, staffing, medicine management, and good governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.