Housing 21 - Foxfields

Updated 5 December 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

This unannounced inspection took place on 16 October 2018 and was carried out by two inspectors.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider. A notification is information about important events that the registered provider is legally required to send us, for example if someone using the service sustains a serious injury. We also spoke with the local authority contracts and safeguarding teams.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return to helps us form our judgements of the service. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with eight people using the service and three relatives. We spoke with four care staff, three senior staff and the registered manager.

We reviewed the care records in relation to seven people using the service, four staff recruitment files and records of staff training. We also reviewed records in relation to the providers oversight and quality monitoring of the service such as, quality audits, team meeting minutes, environmental risk assessments, complaints, compliments and the providers policies and procedures.

Updated 5 December 2018

Foxfield’s was registered with the Care Quality Commission in October 2017 and this was the first inspection of the service.

The inspection took place on 16 October 2018 and was unannounced.

Housing & Care 21- Foxfield’s 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. Housing and Care 21 – Foxfield’s also provide an on-call emergency service to everyone living in the building under a separate arrangement which people pay for as part of the service charge for the shared premises.

Foxfield’s has 77 apartments. People living at Foxfield’s share on-site facilities such as lifts, lounge, restaurant, laundry and a garden. People who need support with personal care are free to choose Foxfield’s or any other domiciliary care service as their provider. At the time of this inspection, Foxfield’s supported 49 people with personal care.

The service did not always notify the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of certain events and incidents, as required. We found some safeguarding alerts had been raised by the service to the local authority, but they had not been sent to CQC as required.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 received varying levels of personal care and support depending on their needs. Some people only required wellbeing checks or minimal assistance with personal care. Others required assistance with administration of medication, continence care, showering/bathing, nutritional support and with mobility.

People felt safe living at Foxfield’s and with the staff that visited them. People were protected from the risk of harm. Staff had been trained in safeguarding people and understood how to report any concerns of abuse. Risks to people’s safety were assessed to ensure preventative action was taken to reduce the risk of harm to people.

People were supported with their medicines in a safe way. People’s nutritional needs were met, and they were supported with their health care needs when required. The service worked with other organisations to ensure that people received coordinated care and support.

People were protected by safe recruitment procedures to ensure staff were suitable to work in care services. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. Staff received training for their role and ongoing support and supervision to work effectively.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The registered manager and staff demonstrated their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) and gained people's consent before providing their care and support.

People were involved all aspects of their care. People’s care plans gave information available about people’s preferences, daily routines and diverse cultural needs. Staff had a good understanding of people's needs and preferences and worked flexibly to ensure they were met.

People and their relatives were happy with staff who provided their personal care and had developed positive trusting relationships. People were treated with dignity and respect, and their rights to privacy were upheld.

People, relatives and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about the service they all spoke positively about the staff team and how the service was managed.

The registered manager and staff team were committed to following the vision and values of the service in providing good quality care. Quality assurance systems were used to monitor and assess the quality of the service to drive continuous improvement. The registered manager worked in partnership with other agencies to meet people’s needs.