Background to this inspection
Updated
24 August 2021
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 one inspector on the site visit and an Expert by Experience who made calls to people or their relatives. 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
Creative Support – Apsley Court 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 site or 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
We gave a short period notice of the inspection to ensure people had given their advanced consent to a phone call from the inspection team.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection and asked for feedback from the local authority who commission from the service.
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.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
The Expert by Experience spoke with four people using the service and three relatives to understand their views. We spoke with the registered manager, area manager and one staff member at the inspection. We spoke with a further five members of care staff by phone following the inspection. This helped us understand how the service was being run and what it was like to work there.
We reviewed records, including three people's care records, three staff files and records relating to staff recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service, such as, accident and incident reports, medicine administration records (MARs), and daily records of support completed by care staff.
After the inspection
We requested some documents to be sent to us to review. This included some of the provider’s policies and procedures, meeting minutes and audits.
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
24 August 2021
About the service
Creative Support – Apsley Court is an extra care housing scheme. People using the service live in their own flats in a single adapted building. Not everyone who used the service at the time of our inspection 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. Seven people were receiving personal care at the time of our inspection
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe and they were happy with the care and support they received. Staff were familiar with safeguarding procedures and where to raise any concerns.
People told us they received their support calls as planned and that there were always enough staff to support them. Appropriate recruitment checks were completed before staff started work.
Possible risks to people were identified and assessed and plans put in place to minimise risks occurring. Medicines were safely managed and administered.
Staff had received training on infection prevention. The provider had updated policies and processes in place to reflect current guidance on Covid-19 and developed initiatives to support staff during the pandemic.
People and their relatives said they were consulted about their needs and wishes and thought the service was well run. They told us any issues they raised were addressed. Their views about the service were sought through, spot checks and surveys.
There was an effective system to monitor the quality and safety of the service and identify learning to share with staff and understand where improvements might be needed.
The registered manager understood their role as registered manager. Staff were aware of their own individual responsibilities and told us they worked well as a team. Staff spoke positively about the registered manager and said she was approachable and supportive, and the way managed the service effectively.
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 requires improvement ( report published 31 October 2019).
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 and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 18 September 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve their management of medicines to ensure people received safe care.
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 ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’. 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 Creative Support -Apsley Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.