Archived: Mickle Hill Also known as Methodist Homes

Mickle Hill is a purpose-built extra care housing scheme which provides personal care to people in their own homes within the Mickle Hill site. People using the service lived in bungalows and apartments on the site on the outskirts of Pickering. 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 inspection 105 people were living at Mickle Hill and 12 people were receiving personal care.

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

People who used the service and their relatives were unreserved in their praise and satisfaction of the service. A frequent comment was that people loved living at Mickle Hill. The service focused on inclusion and treated people as partners in their care and support. People’s needs were central to the Mickle Hill village and the wider local community.

People benefited from a service that was exceptionally well-led. The registered manager supported outcome-driven person-centred care that was entirely focussed on the wellbeing of people and staff. People and staff spoke with high-regard to the registered manager and were clear the service had an open culture, with a strong focus on positivity. Appropriate checks took place across all aspects of care and support. There was a clear emphasis on people, relative and staff engagement. Opportunities were taken to learn and improve the service. The service had formed creative and robust links with the local community and worked strongly in partnership with agencies from this.

People and their relatives agreed the service was very safe. People, relatives and staff had no hesitation that concerns would be acted upon. The service used appropriate and discrete technology to support safety.

Risks were thoroughly assessed and well-managed. Plans encouraged and supported people’s independence wherever possible. The culture of the service supported lessons learnt from any incidents and improvements to processes were considered.

People’s care was highly personalised and considerate to their needs. Activities and social support were very varied and reflected the interests and passions of people. Regular consultation with people ensured this was maintained. The service and staff were very responsive to people’s needs and wishes.

Concerns, compliments and complaints were recorded in detail, consideration was always given to responses and improvements. People were compassionately supported at their end of life with appropriate involvement from health professionals and according to the person’s wishes.

People told us staff were very kind and caring. People’s views and preferences were recorded at pre-assessment and staff were knowledgeable about any changes to these. People said their choices and preferences were respected. People’s privacy and dignity was supported and respected. Documents and records were kept securely.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 5 June 2017).

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.

Mickle Hill is a newly built extra care housing scheme which provides personal care to people in their own homes within the Mickle Hill site. It is based in Pickering close to local amenities and bus routes. Mickle Hill was registered with CQC in January 2016. At the time of inspection six people used the service.

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.

There were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff were able to tell us about the different types of abuse and what actions they would take if they suspected abuse was taking place. Safeguarding concerns had been appropriately managed.

Risk assessments were in place for people who needed them and were specific to people's needs. They had been regularly reviewed and updated when required.

Robust recruitment procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been completed before new staff commenced employment.

The service was not supporting anyone with medicines administration. However policies and procedures were in place to ensure medicines were managed safely should the need to assist people with medicines arise. Staff had received medicines training.

Staff received support in their roles from the registered manager. There was a process for completing and recording supervisions and annual appraisals. Staff had received up to date training to support them to carry out their roles safely and had completed an induction process with the registered provider.

People who were supported by staff at Mickle Hill remained independent with meal preparation. Appropriate tools were available to monitor people's weight and nutritional health if this was required. Staff knew how to make referrals to health professionals should anyone using the service become at risk of malnutrition. People were supported to maintain good health and had access to their own GP, healthcare professionals and health services when needed.

Staff demonstrated good knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff were aware of the procedure to follow if they suspected a person lacked capacity to make decisions.

People usually consented to care and support from care workers by verbally agreeing to it. Records included provision for people to sign giving their agreement to the care and support they received. People we spoke with confirmed they had input in the care planning and had access to their care records. Information on advocacy services was available and displayed in the reception area of the service should this be needed.

People spoke highly of the staff and the management. People said they were always treated with dignity and respect. Care plans detailed people's needs, wishes and preferences and were person centred which helped staff to deliver personalised support. Care plans had been reviewed and updated regularly.

The service had a clear process for handling complaints and information about this was provided to people when they joined the service.

Staff described a positive culture that focused on the people who used the service. They felt supported by the management. Staff told us that the registered manager was approachable and they felt confident that they would deal with any issues raised. Staff were kept informed about the operation of the service through regular staff meetings. They were given the opportunity to recognise and suggest areas for improvement.

Records concerned with people, staff and the running of the home were stored securely and were available during our inspection. Records were maintained and up to date. A system of audits and quality assurance checks were in place on all areas of the service. This included a time limited action plan for any identified areas of concern which were reviewed to ensure actions had been completed.

The registered manager understood their role and responsibilities. Notifications had been submitted to CQC in a timely manner. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the registered provider is legally obliged to tell us about within the required timescales.