Radis Community Care (Nichols Court)

Updated 6 September 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

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

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 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 not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to gather information about the service before visiting. We also needed to be sure that the manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

The inspection activity started on 21 July 2022 and ended on 4 August 2022. We visited the location’s office on 26 July 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration and used this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to the start of 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and one relative. We also spoke with the area manager, manager and three care staff who worked at the service. 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, including policies and procedures. We also reviewed three staff files in relation to recruitment, staff supervision and training.

Updated 6 September 2022

About the service

Radis Community Care (Nichols Court) is a domiciliary care service. It is registered to provide personal care to people living in an extra care housing service. Extra Care Housing is specialised accommodation on a shared site People using the service lived their own flats. “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 the inspection 17 people received personal care.

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

Quality assurance systems had not always identified shortfalls found during our inspection. For example, in relation to recruitment processes and notifications not being submitted. We have made a recommendation about the providers quality assurance system is reviewed so any shortfalls are identified, and an action plan is implemented.

Staff understood the different types of abuse and who they should raise any concerns with. People were supported by staff to access health care professionals when required. People were supported by enough staff who had received training to ensure they had the skills required to care and support people who use the service.

People told us they were happy with the support they received. and had no complaints. Each person had a person-centred care plan which reflected their needs and choices. Care plans were regularly reviewed and updated when people’s needs changed. Policies and procedures were in place to manage complaints. Complaints were investigated and responded to appropriately.

Staff supported people to remain as independent as they could be, and people were involved in decisions about the care they received.

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 CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 11 August 2021 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good published on 14 February 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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