We carried out a review of the data available to us about Anchor Trust (The Laureates) on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Anchor Trust (The Laureates), you can give feedback on this service.
Anchor Trust (The Laureates) provides a personal care service to people living at The Laureates retirement property located in Guiseley on the outskirts of Leeds. The retirement property consists of apartments which people had purchased. A range of facilities were provided as part of this package. The domiciliary care office was located in the same building as the apartments. Apartments were located at a ground, first and second floor level with a lift for access.
The service had a registered manager. 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.
People were complimentary about the service they received. They said they had developed a good relationship with staff and felt safe, as staff knew them well. They said staff arrived on time or rang them if they were running late.
People told us they never felt rushed and enjoyed their time with staff. They said staff promoted their privacy and dignity and supported them in a caring manner.
People were aware of how to make a complaint and would confidently raise any issues of concern or abuse, if required.
Staff supported or prompted people with their medicines in a safe way and documented all administration in line with the provider’s policy.
The staff and registered manager regularly asked people for their opinion of the service and we found that people were fully involved in the development of their care plan. People told us the service was responsive to their needs and their visit took place at a time which was convenient to them. They said the office staff were flexible and able to change their visit at short notice if needed.
Peoples care records were person centred and created around their needs. Regular reviews were completed to reflect people’s current support needs. People told us they received their care in line with their requirements.
Any risks had been identified and risk assessments formulated when working with people. These records made it clear to staff how risks should be minimised. Environmental assessments were completed before people came to use the service.
Staff told us the consistency of visits enabled them to develop relationships and know people's likes and dislikes. They said they were given sufficient time to travel from one person to another and had adequate time within each visit to support people effectively. They said this meant they were rarely rushing or running late for visits.
Staff told us they had the required training to do their job effectively but could ask for additional support if they were not sure about a particular topic. Staff told us they were very well supported and received regular informal and formal support from the management team.
The service was well managed with clear leadership. The registered manager was committed to improving the service further.
There were enough staff to support people effectively with focused recruitment taking place to accommodate new care packages. People were given consistency through the allocation of their visits. Regular audits, telephone interviews or visits to people were effectively monitoring service provision.
We undertook an announced inspection of The Laureates (extra care housing) on 10 September 2015. We gave the provider 48 hour notice of our visit to ensure that the registered manager of the service would be available.
The Laureates is extra-care housing and provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 22 people were receiving a personal care service.
At our last inspection in June 2013 the service was judged to be meeting all of the regulations we inspected at that time.
The service had a registered manager in place. 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 and people told us they were able to speak to the registered manager if they had any concerns. The service completed spot checks on all staff whilst they supported people and formal 1-1s were in place to look at support and training for the staff. This meant that people were supported in their role.
The service was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We asked staff on the day of the inspection there understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, all the staff we spoke with said that they would always assume capacity first. One staff member said” if I had a concern around someone’s capacity then I would speak to the manager straight away. “Staff understood how to help people make day-to-day decisions and were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
Medicines were administered to people by trained staff and people received their prescribed medication when they needed it.
We spoke to three people who received care/support from The Laureates and five staff. The people we spoke with all said that they felt safe in their home whilst care and support was provided.
Records we looked at and in our discussions with staff we found staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.
People told us they were supported to eat and drink. Staff supported them to healthcare appointments when requested and provided personal care as required to meet people’s needs.
There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.
The Laureates had a complaints procedure in place. People who used the service and staff knew how to complain. Complaints and compliments were dealt with in accordance with the agency policy.
There was an accident and incident file in place. The accidents had been recorded and actioned by the registered manager.
We found sufficient information was maintained about people to ensure the provider could meet their care needs. Appropriate information was retained by the provider in relation to the management of the service.
We found staff treated people with dignity and respect and promoted people to be independent. The staff we spoke with had understood how to treat people in a dignified and respectful manner.
We found people received appropriate care and welfare from the provider and staff understood their individual care needs.
We found the provider had robust recruitment procedures in place to ensure staff were suitable for their role.
However, we found some care records were missing key information and had not been consistently updated. Records which related to incident data and audits were also inconsistent or missing.