Archived: Housing & Care 21 - Cherry Tree House

Cherry Tree House is a block of ten flats over two floors, in a residential area of Moreton close to local amenities. At the time of our inspection ten people held a tenancy at Cherry Tree House. People who lived at Cherry Tree House had support needs arising from having dementia or early onset dementia.

Each flat was fully equipped and self-contained; people living in the flats held a tenancy with Liverpool Housing Trust. The support was provided by Housing & Care 21.

In addition to ten flats, Cherry Tree House had communal areas that people could use. There was a communal lounge, kitchen and dining room which had access to well-kept communal gardens. There was a communal laundry room and a spare room which the manager told us had recently been used by people for therapies and beauty treatments. There was also a manager’s office and a staff room with a toilet and shower.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. The manager had been in post since the flats opened eight years ago. 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.

We were able to speak to six people who lived at Cherry Tree House, some of their relatives and staff members working on the day of our inspection.

People we spoke with told us they were happy and felt safe living at Cherry Tree House. People’s family members told us they felt their loved ones were safe and they expressed confidence in the support they were receiving.

We observed that people were safe, with the appropriate level of staff present and assistive technology in their flats making it easy for people to seek help. People’s care plans contained risk assessments which covered all aspects of their lives. People told us they were involved in completing these and we witnessed that people had signed their own assessments.

People were supported with their health needs. There was evidence of this in the care we observed, from what people told us and from people’s care files. The staff team at Cherry Tree House engaged with, and had built up relationships with, health professionals to ensure people health needs were met. If people chose they were accompanied to health appointments.

People told us they felt well cared for. The relatives we spoke with agreed with this. We witnessed and saw evidence of a creative and innovative approach to caring for people and their needs. It was a caring and enabling approach which sought to champion people’s rights, whilst keeping people safe. People’s relatives who we spoke with told us people’s lives had improved due to the support received at Cherry Tree House.

People were treated with dignity and the upmost respect. They were involved in planning their support and were encouraged to be independent and develop their skills. People’s choices were respected. The appropriate level of support was offered by staff to help people understand situations and make choices that were good for them. The staff team understood and supported people in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

The staff team at Cherry Tree House told us they were well supported. We observed this to be the case with appropriate training and training refreshers, supervisions with the manager, regular staff team meetings and times when the manager observed staff members practice in order to support them to develop.

Staff told us they enjoyed their work and supporting people at Cherry Tree House. This was clear from our observations and staff contributed to the friendly atmosphere by their enthusiasm and approach. Many of the staff team had been at Cherry Tree House for a long time. Those we asked told us they would be happy for a family member of theirs to live at Cherry Tree House.

The manager was visible and it was clear she had good relationships with people living at Cherry Tree House. She had clear values which included treating people with respect, and this cascaded into the team and influenced their support.

The manager completed regular checks and audits regarding the health and safety of the communal premises and sought feedback from people and their relatives regarding the quality of the support provided.

"Staff are excellent, very knowledgeable and caring.";

'It's a lovely place, I'm very happy here.'

'Mum is very well cared for and they understand when she is upset or agitated.'

Relatives said they felt involved in the care and support received by their family member and were able to make changes. One relative told us 'Mum is able to say yes or no and if she says no then that choice is respected.'

The registered manager told us about the assessment process carried out by social services and care plans that were initiated from information received. Care plans we looked at were person centred and provided clear instruction to staff on how people's needs should be met. Risk assessments were carried out and where risk was identified information on how to manage and reduce risk was precise.

Health needs were documented and there was evidence that other health and social care professionals were included in the care package. This provided a complete and holistic approach to people's overall care.

We spoke with three members of care staff who were knowledgeable about the people they cared for and their required needs. Staff were well trained in all aspects of dementia care and were well supported. They told us 'We know and love the people we look after.'

There were appropriate systems in place to continually monitor and improve the quality of the care provided.

We found that Cherry Tree House had procedures in place for safeguarding vulnerable adults, medicine management and supporting staff. These procedures reduced the risks of people receiving unsafe and inappropriate care.

We found there were systems in place to monitor quality assurance. There were quality assurance surveys and a complaints system to gain people's views.