Lavender Meadows

Updated 18 October 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

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 rented or purchased 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.

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 announced. We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection and people would be at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 28 September 2022 and finished on 30 September 2022. We visited Lavender Meadows on 28 September 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from commissioners and 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 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 spoke with five people who received care from the service and two relatives. We spoke to the registered manager and two care staff. We reviewed a range of documents including three people's care records and medicines records, two staff recruitment files, staff training records, quality audits and checks the registered manager completed to assure themselves people received safe and good quality care.

Updated 18 October 2022

About the service

Lavender Meadows is an extra care service. The service offers independent living to people in their own apartments with access to on-site personal care. People are supported by staff during pre-arranged care calls. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service.

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 said they felt safe living at Lavender Meadows and staff understood their role in safeguarding people from the risks of abuse or discrimination. Any potential risks to providing people’s care and support had been identified and staff arrived when people were expecting them. Checks on staff practice ensured they followed good practice in relation to medicines management and infection control.

Staff were suitably trained to effectively meet people’s needs. People were referred to other healthcare professionals to maintain their health and safety. 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.

People were positive about the caring attitude of the staff team and staff understood the importance of developing relationships with people and promoting equality and diversity. People were involved in making decisions about their care.

Care plans provided staff with information about people’s abilities and dependencies and how they wanted to be supported. People had opportunities to engage in activities in communal areas to prevent them becoming socially isolated or lonely.

People and relatives spoke highly of the management team and staff felt valued and supported. A system of audits and checks ensured regulations were met and the quality of the service maintained. There was culture of sharing learning to improve outcomes for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

The service was registered with us on 15 July 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and to give the service its first rating.

Follow up

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