Background to this inspection
Updated
20 November 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. 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 was carried out by one inspector.
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 site or building. The accommodation 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 did not have 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. The manager of the service was in the process of applying to become the registered manager.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We contacted the local branch of Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
and the local authority for information about the service. We looked at the information we held about the service. This included notifications received from the provider about accidents/incidents and safeguarding alerts, which they are required to send us by law. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with five people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the area manager, manager of the service, a senior care staff member and a care assistant. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care plans and multiple medicine records and audits. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
20 November 2019
About the service
Heathcote House is an extra care housing service providing personal care to people. The service is a purpose built accommodation over two floors to support people to live independently. There are gardens and communal areas for people to use and enjoy while living in their own flat. The service can support up to 24 people and there were 24 people living at the service 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 were safeguarded from the potential of harm and their freedoms protected. Staff assessed potential risks to people and supported people to reduce the risk to them. People received their medicines as prescribed and were supported by staff as per the guidance in their individual care plan.
Staff had been recruited appropriately and had received relevant training, so they were able to support people with their individual care and support needs. All staff received supervision and appraisals to support them to develop their skills.
Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and support. 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 were treated with empathy and understanding. People’s rights to privacy were respected by the staff who supported them to maintain their dignity and independence. People were supported to express their views and encouraged to be actively involved in making decisions about their care needs.
Individual care plans were based upon an assessment of their needs which was regularly reviewed with them. The care plan included personal details about the person’s choices and how they wished to live and be supported. People using the service were aware of the complaints process and were confident about approaching the staff if they needed to.
There were effective auditing systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. The views of people about the service was gathered and used to support service development. The service worked closely with other professionals as required to support people using the service.
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) This service was registered with us on 10/10/2018 and this is the first inspection.
The last rating for this service was Good (published 19 January 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.