Comfort Call - St Andrews House

Updated 26 July 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 one inspector and one Expert 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 site or building. The accommodation is 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. However, the service had a manager in place who was in the process of applying to become registered.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours' notice because people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us. Inspection activity started on 7 June 2022 when we visited the location's office and ended on 28 June 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We reviewed statutory notifications submitted by the provider. Statutory notifications contain information providers are required to send to us about significant events that take place within services. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people using the service which included visiting two people in their homes, eight relatives and four staff including the manager, team leader and carer. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care and medicine records. 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 concerns and complaints were reviewed.

After the inspection

We sought further information from the provider, that we did not review on site, to inform our inspection judgements. This included staff training information, staff rotas and policies.

Updated 26 July 2022

About the service

Comfort Call – St Andrews House provides personal care and support to people living in self-contained flats located in a single purpose built building. This is known as extra care housing and is operated and run by an independent organisation. 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. At the time of this inspection there were 13 people being provided with personal care and support by the service.

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

A new manager was in post and not all people we spoke knew who the manager was. However, all people at the service named a team leader who deputised for the manager as the person they would report any concerns to. Checks to monitor, review and improve the quality and safety of the service were in place and any issues found were promptly addressed. Staff told us they felt supported in their role. Staff worked in partnership with other health and social professionals to ensure people received the support they required.

Staff supported people to take their medicines safely. There were enough staff to support people safely. People were protected from the risk of abuse and neglect. Risks were managed and risk reduction measures in place. Staff ensured people were protected from the risk of infection by following and implementing infection control guidance.

Staff received training and an induction to ensure they could meet people’s needs safely. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet of their choosing. People were supported to visit health and social care professionals to ensure health conditions they lived with were managed. 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 and their relatives told us staff supported them kindly and with compassion. People were encouraged to share their views on the care provided. People told us staff respected their right to privacy and felt they were able to live independently due to the support staff provided. People received care and support at their preferred time.

People’s care plan’s and supporting documentation were person centred and reflected their individual needs well. Care plans reflected people had been involved in all aspects of their care. People were supported to maintain and develop relationships with relatives, friends and other people living at the service. Activities were developed with people to ensure they spent their time doing things they enjoyed. People and their relatives knew how to raise a complaint, complaints were responded to in a timely manner and in line with the providers policy.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 21 February 2020. This provider was registered with us on 5 October 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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