Background to this inspection
Updated
2 April 2020
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
This inspection was carried out by an inspector and an inspection manager.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support 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 and support service.
The service had a manager who was new in post and had applied to the CQC to become the registered manager of this service. The registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. It is a condition of the providers registration that a registered manager runs the service
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 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.
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 work with the service. 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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with four people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the service manager, the housing manager, a team leader, two care staff and a service manager from the same provider offering management support. We also spoke with a social worker over the telephone. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records, medication records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
2 April 2020
About the service
Radis Community Care (Baird Lodge) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own flats in a specialist 'extra care' housing scheme in Ely. 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 21 people were receiving the regulated activity personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were happy with the service and the staff that provided their care. People felt safe because staff knew what they were doing, and supported people in the way people wanted.
Staff assessed and reduced people’s risks as much as possible. There were enough staff to support people with their care and support needs. The provider carried out key recruitment checks on potential new staff before they started work.
People received their medicines and staff knew how these should be given. Staff used protective equipment, such as gloves and aprons to prevent the spread of infection.
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.
Staff had not completed training courses which they felt would be beneficial to their job role. These courses are available by the provider for staff to attend, however there had been no oversight to ensure that staff had completed them. Not all staff felt they received good support from a manager.
People liked the staff that supported them. Staff were kind and caring, they involved people in their care and made sure people’s privacy was respected.
Staff kept care records up to date and included national guidance if relevant. People’s care plans were person centred and contained enough information for staff to know what was important to the person they were supporting.
The service had recently appointed a new manager. There had been at least four changes of manager in the last 12 months and this had been unsettling for both people using the service and the staff team. Health professionals also commented on the impact that this had caused to people and staff.
People were asked their views of the service and action was taken to change any areas that they were not happy with. Concerns were followed up to make sure action was taken to rectify the issues raised.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 22 August 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.