Archived: Swan Housing Association

Updated 24 August 2016

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.

The inspection took place on 22 June 2016 and was unannounced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to respond to our queries.

The inspection visit was carried out by one inspector. An expert by experience also carried out phone calls after the visit. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

On the day of the inspection we visited the service and spoke with the registered manager, the Director of Care and the Head of Care Services, plus a number of additional office staff. We met or spoke with eight members of care staff. We visited three people who used the service and met the staff supporting them. We also met a number of other people informally during our visit, for example in the dining room. We spoke on the phone to 17 family members. We had email contact with one health and social care professional to ask them about their views of the service.

We reviewed all the information we had available about the service including notifications sent to us by the manager. This is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We also looked at information sent to us from others, including family members and the local authority. We used this information to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection.

We looked at five people’s care records and three staff records. We examined information relating to the management of the service such as health and safety records, personnel and recruitment records, quality monitoring audits and information about complaints.

Updated 24 August 2016

The inspection took place on 22 June 2016 and was announced. The service met legal requirements at our last inspection in February 2014.

Swan Housing Association provides care and support to people living in their own homes. The service being inspected was provided at an extra-care facility called The Cannons’ which is comprised of 38 units on one site. Most of the units are self-contained flats within a central building which also houses the communal facilities. There are four bungalows in the grounds which are also part of the service. The service predominantly supports older adults, some of whom may be living with dementia but also people with a physical or learning disability. It does not provide nursing care.

Swan Housing staff provide an on-call facility to everyone living at the service. They also provide personal care, depending on individual need. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 33 people being supported with their personal care needs, and it was this element of the service which we inspected.

A registered manager was in post at the service. 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.

Staff supported people to remain safe in their homes, whilst enabling them to maximise their independence. There were sufficient numbers of skilled staff to meet people’s needs and to spend time developing trusting relationships. People were supported to take their prescribed medicines safely. The provider had a robust recruitment process to make sure staff were suitable and fit to work at the service.

Staff felt well supported by managers and received training to develop their skills. Staff understood people’s rights to consent and make choices about the service they received.

Staff supported people to make choices about what they ate and drank. Staff monitored people’s health needs and enabled them to access health care professionals, when needed.

People had a positive experience of care and were treated with dignity and respect by staff.

People received flexible support that was personalised to take into account their needs and preferences. People and their families were aware of how to make a complaint and there were a number of opportunities available for them to give their feedback about the service.

Staff were enthusiastic about their jobs and worked well as a team. The manager was visible and actively involved in supporting staff and people. The provider had effective systems in place to check the quality of the service.