Apex Prime Care - Potter's Court

Updated 4 March 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 was undertaken by two inspectors.

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 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.

The service had a manager registered with CQC: however, they were no longer working at the service. The provider had put in place a management team to run the service in the short term which was experienced in providing domiciliary care and extra care housing. One of the team was identified as being the named manager whilst recruitment took place for a registered manager.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 January 2022 and ended on 26 January 2022. We visited the location’s office on 13 and 18 January 2022.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed the information we held about the service.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people using the service, five relatives, four staff, the manager and three further members of the management team.

We reviewed a range of records, including care plans and risk assessments for three people, medicines administration records, three staff recruitment files and staff training records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We received written feedback from three health and social care professionals.

Updated 4 March 2022

About the service

Apex Prime Care – Potter’s Court is an extra care housing service providing personal care to people living in their own flats in one building. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people using the service.

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

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.

Although there were always staff based in the building, people gave us mixed feedback about the timings of calls and how long the care staff spent with them. The provider undertook checks to ensure staff were safe to work with people but had not always completed checks in line with current legislation. The provider was unable to demonstrate a robust system for assessing the competency of staff to support people with their medicines. However, people received their medicines as prescribed.

There had not been an open and positive culture at the service but action had been taken recently and the situation was improving. The provider had put a new management team in place to improve the quality of the service provided. Management had learnt lessons when things had gone wrong for people and took action to make improvements.

The service had not previously had systems in place to monitor and improve care. However, since the new management team had started, some audits had been completed and others were being scheduled. The management team had worked to improve their working relationships with the commissioning authorities.

The provider undertook assessments to understand people’s needs but had not always been robust in ensuring they could meet people’s assessed needs before agreeing to provide care to them. Staff told us they had received an induction and recently undertaken some refresher training. However, they also felt they would benefit from having more specific training to meet the needs of people living there, such as mental health.

The provider had policies and procedures in place designed to protect people from the risk of harm and abuse and people were supported by staff who had completed safeguarding training. The manager ensured risk assessments were in place which identified where people were at risk. We were assured that the provider was using personal protective equipment effectively and safely.

Where needed, people received support with eating and drinking, as identified in their care plans. The service liaised with other professional teams to support people's needs. The service supported people to access healthcare when needed. People had signed consent forms to show they consented to staff supporting them with their personal care. People told us they were well-treated by staff who were supportive.

The provider involved people in making decisions about their care through discussing and writing their care plans with them and holding reviews. People felt staff generally respected their privacy and dignity when supporting them.

People had care plans in place which were detailed and showed people’s preferences for care and support. People were involved in a review of their care and changes were made as necessary. The provider ensured staff communicated with people in ways which met their specific needs. The provider had a complaints procedure in place.

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

This service was registered with us on 21 June 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing and how people’s needs were met. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

Follow up

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