Cardamom Court

Updated 25 June 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an Expert by Experience (ExE) who made phone calls to people and their relatives. An ExE is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Cardamom Court provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built accommodation in a shared 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 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

We visited the location on 11 April 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications we had received. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We looked at five care files, ten people’s medication administration records, four staff files, quality assurance reports and other records relating to the management of the service including incidents and accidents records. We spoke with seven people using service, one relative, the registered manager, chief operations officer, four care staff, the well-being coordinator and the GP involved in the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at records related to the management of the service and we received feedback from two members of the local commissioning team.

Updated 25 June 2022

About the service

Cardamom Court provides care and support to older people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. 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 our inspection 26 people were using the service.

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

People told us the service was exceptionally well run. The service provided care that achieves best outcomes for people and improves their quality of life. They adopted various initiatives and approaches to promote people’s well-being, maintain their health and safety and achieves good outcomes for them. They work with staff, GP services and other health services to proactively identify the risk of people’s health declining and following measures to improve their health and well-being.

The provider worked effectively with other agencies and organisations to develop the service and promote positive outcomes for people. There was strong management and leadership of the service and staff told us they were well supported. The registered manager understood and delivered their role very well. Staff understood their roles and felt motivated to deliver good care to people.

People, their relatives and staff were involved in developing the service. Their views and feedback were considered in designing the service. People were supported with their language needs. Information was provided to them in the language and formats they understood that enabled them to share their views and make decisions about their care.

People and their relatives knew how to raise concerns about the service.

People felt safe with staff and in the way their care was delivered. The registered manager and provider regularly monitored the quality of service delivered using a range of systems.

Staff understood safeguarding procedures and knew what actions to take if abuse had occurred. People’s care needs and risks were assessed. Management plans were developed to address risks to people and detailed how their individual care needs would be met.

Medicines were handled and administered safely. Staff understood the organisation’s medicines policy and followed it to ensure people received their medicines safely. Incidents and accidents were managed in a way that ensured lessons were learnt to prevent reoccurrence.

People received care and support from staff when they required it as there were enough staff available to care for people. Staff were recruited in a way that ensured people were safe with them. Staff followed practices that reduced the risk of infection.

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 place support this practice. People consented to their care. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff and the manager understood their roles and responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005.

Staff were supported through induction, on-going training, regular supervision; and appraisal to be effective in their roles. The service liaised effectively with social and health care professionals; and other services to meet people’s needs appropriately. Staff supported people, where required to arrange and attend appointments to maintain good health. People’s nutritional and dietary needs and requirements were met.

People were cared for by staff who were caring and compassionate. People told us staff treated them with kindness and respect. Staff understood the importance of delivering care to people in a way that maintained people’s dignity, privacy and independence. People were given choice about their care.

Staff had received equality and diversity training and they respected people’s individualities. Staff supported people to maintain their religious and cultural beliefs. People had a range of activities they participated in to occupy them. The service worked with people to reduce the risk of social isolation.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 20 March 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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Cardamom Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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