Housing 21 - Woodridge

Updated 5 December 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 team was made up of one inspector and an 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 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 bought or 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 service.

The service had 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked with the service. We also contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection-

We spoke with 15 people and eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, an assistant care manager and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and seven people’s medication records and audits. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were also reviewed.

Updated 5 December 2019

About the service

Housing 21 – Woodridge is an extra care scheme that was providing personal care to 26 people 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 told us they were happy with the service, felt comfortable with staff and were kept safe. Comments included, “The staff are lovely, so I do feel relaxed and safe with them” and “I feel [family member] is totally safe and well looked after.”

The registered manager understood their responsibilities about safeguarding and had additional measures in place to ensure all incidents were reported. Risks were managed safely. The provider learned from accidents and incidents. Arrangements were in place for the safe administration of medicines. The provider maintained an appropriate recruitment policy and procedure, although staffing levels were consistent.

Assessments of people’s needs were carried out before they started receiving support. Staff continued to receive regular training and supervisions as well as annual appraisals. People were supported with their nutritional needs, where required, and to access a range of health care professionals in order to maintain their health. 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.

People felt staff treated them with dignity and respect. Staff promoted and maintained people’s independence by encouraging them to care for themselves, where possible. People were supported to access advocacy services.

Care plans were detailed and person-centred. People’s communication needs were detailed within care records and staff knew how to communicate with them effectively. People knew how to raise any concerns and the provider had an effective complaints procedure in place.

People, relatives and staff spoke highly of the management team and were complimentary about the service. An effective quality assurance process was in place. People and relatives were regularly consulted about the quality of the service through surveys. Staff were involved in the ongoing development and improvement of the service through regular meetings.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 9 November 2018) and there were two breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

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.